


Alternative Reality

by xXxDeadEyesNekuxXx



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AkuRoku - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Kairi being awesome? yes please, M/M, Multi, Roxas having most of the screen time? yes!, Sorikai - Freeform, Soriku - Freeform, Vanitas being important and not just a side character for once? yeah, actually not making Axel a fuck boi? absolutely, character death? maybe, everyone being lowkey in love with Roxas? probably, fighting the Heartless and Nobodies, kicking Xehanort's ass, roxas and ven are brothers cause yes please, ships are not the focus, slowburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-29
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-09-02 02:26:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 37,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16777810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXxDeadEyesNekuxXx/pseuds/xXxDeadEyesNekuxXx
Summary: Roxas, a teenager with a shady past, arrives (more like crash-lands) on Destiny Islands only to be found and taken in by Sora, Kairi, and their friends. With the past at his heels, Roxas and the crew are thrown into a journey that is far greater than they could ever predict. But Roxas isn’t the only one with secrets or strange powers.And just who is Xehanort? And where is Ventus and how does he seem to know so much about what's going on behind the scenes?(based on KH1 with elements from BBS and KH2 but is a bit loose with the canon, and everyone is kinda aged up a bit but ages are never stated, plus Roxas and Ventus are brothers cause why not)





	1. PROLOGUE

**Author's Note:**

> Yo so basically what happened is that I got fed up when I kept seeing annoying tropes in KH fanfic (like making Axel a creepy fuck boy, why do u gotta do that to him?) so I thought I should write one myself! Ships are not the focus BTW! And yes we gonna go to different worlds! Doesn’t follow KH canon very closely but does keep a few things (Keyblades!!!). 
> 
> As for ages most characters are teenagers (the important ones anyway). And so Sora’s gang would be older than they were in KH1 so imagine them wearing different outfits! I’ve always seen Axel close to their age (but just freakishly tall, or Roxas and Sora are just ridiculously short). Ages won’t be said so just imagine for yourself what they all might be!

_Journal Entry XXX_

_I have to leave—I can’t stay in this place for one more day without losing my mind. I can’t take another life or do what they ask me without losing myself even more. I was Roxas once, but now I’m number XIII. I want to be Roxas again and I want to live my life outside of this cage. I tried to convince my friends but they just…_

_I just have to go. If they ever read this then I’m sorry but this isn’t a joke. I want to explore other worlds and meet normal people. I want to be a normal person and a normal kid. My childhood was taken from me by this Organisation but I won’t let it take over the rest of my years. I am done being a puppet—aren’t you, too?_

_If you try to stop me I will fight back. If you try to contain me I will break out and use the full extent of my power. My decision on this is final and there’s no going back._

_I won’t say where I’m going but you can be sure that it’s as far away from here as I can possibly get. You won’t find me so don’t even try looking for me._

_I’m sorry, Xion, Namine, and Axel._

_Signed for the final time, XIII, soon to be Roxas once again._

A great journey always starts with a big bang, that’s what they always say, anyway. And Roxas was intent on making his great journey the kind that would last. It was his great journey away from a cold and unforgiving world that offered no true warmth or comfort. Even the ever so kind Namine had been twisted, and Xion had been fooled, and Axel had been pulled into the Organisation’s web of lies and manipulation.

Roxas had once been like them, believing in the cause and in Xemnas of his own destiny but he had been thrown into the greatest wakeup call of them all. It wasn’t easy to ignore when a long lost brother showed up out of the blue and told Roxas the truth before disappearing once again into the unknown. It seemed that Ventus was on a great journey of his own making.

His friends didn’t even believe that Ventus even existed. And usually they listened to him and it had hurt to hear that but had made him all the more aware of the spell everyone was under. He couldn’t wake them up no matter what he tried to do or say and rebelling against Xemnas himself was out of the question—running was almost as bad but at least Roxas had a chance of getting away.

As the rain poured and Heartless shambled in the dark amongst the Nobodies, Roxas stood before a dark corridor he had formed. He wasn’t good at making them but had put all his effort into this one, making sure it was perfect. There was no actual way of knowing if it was safe but it was all he had.

He had nowhere else to go.

“Roxas…”

Of course Axel was sent after him but it was a surprise to see his weapons drawn. Axel was sharper than most people gave him credit for and incredibly dangerous despite his common displays of laziness. There was a reason why he controlled the Assassin type Nobodies.

“You can’t stop me,” Roxas said firmly, summoning his keyblades to show that he was serious about this too.

“You’re making a mistake,” Axel said, edging closer in a way that was meant to be stealthy but Roxas knew all his tricks. They were best friends after all.

“This is the best decision I’ve ever made. I can’t believe I’ve been so blind for so long! Why should we care about the Organisation or Kingdom Hearts? Xemnas doesn’t care about us and Xehanort—whoever the hell that is—is the one behind it all! He’s playing with our lives, Axel! Don’t you get it? I can’t be a part of this any longer!”

“Calm down, you’re not making sense…”

“Stop it with the act! You’re a liar and clearly know more about what’s going on than me! I’m going!” He got closer to the dark corridor but Axel wasn’t losing ground and embers were flickering around him, his powers at the ready at any moment if Roxas tried to escape.

“The Organisation needs you, Roxas. We can’t do it with just Xion and you’ve always been stronger. Xemnas does care about you, and that’s the honest truth. More than even me or Saix or anyone else… You’re the centre of attention.” For his credit, Axel did seem unhappy to admit it, as Xemnas wasn’t one to show affection or praise for anyone.

“He cares because I can collect hearts the fastest. That’s all. That monster isn’t capable of caring about anyone besides himself and Xehanort. All I want is to be away from all of this and just be a normal teenager! Why can’t you just allow me to go? You and everyone are missing out as well. We’re all trapped.”

“Roxas, you’re being childish. What exactly are you missing out on? You have friends here and a family and we all look out for each other. Do you really think anyone out there in the universe is going to accept you like we do? Xemnas took you and all of us in. What’s waiting out there is you being back on the streets with nobody but the hunger and cold for company. Here, you get everything you could ever want… Isn’t that enough for you?” Axel lowered his chakrams and let his sadness show and his hurt.

Even if it wasn’t an act, Roxas had made his decision. Ventus’ words rang deeply through his mind, “Escape from this world and find the true place that you belong. The darkness will keep chasing you but you don’t have to be a part of it or let it control your life any longer. You have the strength to fight it and the power of light within you, even if you may not believe it sometimes. You have a heart and you deserve to live as a free bird and one day we’ll see each other again.”

Roxas took advantage of Axel’s hesitation and stepped through the dark corridor and felt heat just before he stepped through—and then his body seemed to explode with pain and the dark corridor seemed to be shattering at the seams but he was within it and still travelling through it.

The burning was new to him, having never been on the receiving end of Axel’s pyrokinesis, but the elation he felt at succeeding in his escape made the pain worth it.

Where this gateway would take him, he didn’t know, but anywhere was better than The World That Never Was.


	2. ISLANDER KIDS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A boy begins his journey and a lone figure fights in the dark.

For most kids it was their dream to have their own secret place away from adults where there wasn’t any rules or responsibilities. For the kids of the Destiny Islands, this dream was a reality. There were islands scattered a short distance from the mainland that only the kids seemed to occupy during the day. It was tradition almost, and a group of teenagers had never given up on this tradition.

As kids they had made it their own personal paradise and now as young adults it was even better, if not a bit more crowded than it had been. The crew of this small island consisted of Sora, Riku, Kairi, Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Seifer, Rai and Fuu. And of course because of how crowded it was there was often fights and tension and drama but never anything too serious. Except Hayner and Seifer kept getting into fist-fights that often ended with a few injuries.

Seifer had once tried to mess with Sora and Riku but had learned his lesson pretty quickly (and Riku hadn’t even lifted a finger because it turned out Sora wasn’t just a ball of sunshine and could hold his own a lot better than most people would expect).

But for the most part they all tolerated each other on this island and nothing actually bad or weird ever happened, apart from a few sightings of strangers in cloaks. No sightings up close and personal—not until the Destiny Islander kids arrived in their tiny boats after school to find a boy wearing a black cloak with blond hair washed up on shore, dead to the world but very much alive.

Sora was the first to rush over and to check his condition, being a naturally compassionate person when it came to strangers. Riku stood close by as a protective sentinel and Kairi didn’t seem sure what to do. Everyone else stood back in a crowd of flabbergasted teens (Seifer just looked annoyed to have his time wasted rather than by spending it fighting).

Selphie squealed and Tidus yelled in surprise when the mysterious boy suddenly awoke and leapt to his feet, getting into a fighting stance.

*

Roxas, having absolutely no clue where he was, was just as surprised and felt relieved to see the teenagers carrying wooden weapons that he could snap in a fight with his keyblades easily. These teens weren’t the Organisation, it was ok.

He shook his head and relaxed his posture before looking around at the sea and sand and greenery and felt the soft breeze on his skin and the slight scorch of the sun. Yes, this wasn’t The World That Never Was. This was… This was his and Ventus’ birthplace, Destiny Islands.

“Are you ok?” a guy with spiky brown hair asked who looked genuinely worried and the bravest of the group. He was the only one staying close.

“I am now,” Roxas said with a real smile. He had really done it! He had escaped!

“That’s great and all but who the hell are you?” a sour-faced guy said who wore a beanie despite the climate. Ah, immediately Roxas knew what kind of person he was.

“Who the hell are _you?_ ” Roxas asked back, raising an eyebrow.

“No, you don’t get to ask the questions around here. You’re on our island, our land, so I repeat again: who the hell are you?”

“And I repeat back: _who the hell_ _are you?_ ”

It seemed like the guy had enough because he stormed over, and shoved anyone who tried to stop him, and he grabbed the collar of Roxas’ coat.

“You’re asking for it, blondie.”

“That’s not even an insult.”

Instead of responding the guy tried to throw a punch only for Roxas to grab his fist, catching it and grinning. And then he grabbed the guy’s body and tossed him into the water. Roxas may be short but using keyblades for so long and fighting all kinds of creatures does wonders to one’s strength.

“FUCK YEAH!” a guy wearing green yelled. “I love this new guy! Get fucked, Seifer!”

“FUCK YOU!”

But Roxas’ triumph was only momentary because he collapsed back onto the ground. His injury from Axel had really done hell to his energy. Still, showing off had been worth it. And at least someone didn’t think he was a freak. But his display of strength wasn’t all he could do.

For the moment, he blacked out and by the time he came to he was resting on a makeshift bed in what looked like a shack. The brunet from before was at his side in an instant and ogling him with curiosity.

“Hi, I’m Sora!” he said, sticking his hand out.

Roxas, bemused and a little taken aback by the sudden introduction accepted the handshake. “…Roxas.”

“You’re really cool!” Sora said. “I thought I was the only one who could toss Seifer like that but boy was I wrong. Riku probably could too but he doesn’t like getting involved in fights anymore which is funny because he can be a bit of a dick sometimes. Is it hormones? Is it his ego? We’ll never know for sure! He’s been really weird lately.”

“Oh, alright.”

“Where did you come from? The sea? Oh! Are you a mermaid?”

“No and no. I came through a gateway from another world.”

Roxas had expected Sora to not believe him but clearly Sora was the type to trust people far too easily, which was a bit comforting if not worrying. “Woah! Another world? Kairi, Riku, and I wanted to make a raft and go to other worlds as a kid but we grew out of it—but I guess you’re living proof that there really are other worlds out there! What was yours like?”

“Bad. I escaped and now I’m here.”

“Oh. That’s…really sad. I’m so sorry.”

“There’s nothing for you to be sorry for, it’s not like it’s your fault.”

“Yeah but I’m just sad that you don’t have a home now.”

“Frankly, being anywhere else was better than being there. My world was unforgiving and deranged and not a place you’d like to spend the rest of your days.” Roxas pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them. “It was never sunny there, not like it is here. It often rained and monsters lurked in just about every corner.” _And even worse monsters lived among the Organisation’s ranks…_

Sora, all naivety that one would expect from a kid living in a paradise-like world, offered a comforting hand and smile. “Well it’s a good thing that you’re here now and this world can be your home now! You can live here on the island if you’d like. The mainland isn’t very interesting and I don’t think you’d like going to school.”

As bad as the Organisation had been, they had given him a proper education. “No, I doubt that I’d like it. We’re in agreement on that. But is it really ok if I stay on this island?”

“Of course! We’ll visit you just about every day! We always come here anyway to hang out. There’s really nowhere else to go.”

“Alright, then I’ll stay.” _For now._ “Sora, is it ok if I be left alone for a bit longer?”

“Sure, yell if you need anything.” And just like, Sora rushed off and could be heard yelling and laughing, his voice never completely inaudible. In this world perhaps that nature of his wasn’t a risk. Roxas could never be like him, not any more.

Kids like him didn’t know what it was like to fear the unknown or the darkness. This world was so full of light and life and maybe Roxas didn’t belong here, but he wanted to stay just for a small time if he could. He didn’t know what the other kids thought about him and was perhaps a bit anxious of their opinions. Could they tell he was dangerous? They didn’t recognise his Organisation coat at least.

For now he was safe and that was all that mattered.

*

In the deep dark unknown, outside of the safety of the light, wandered Ventus along a broken path with his keyblade in hand. He was as far from home as Roxas was but even further from his brother. This chosen path of his would only lead him to heartbreak and destruction but he had long since accepted this. Xehanort had to be stopped but his claws were pulling all the strings and Ventus very much knew that he was still a puppet. At least now Roxas had some freedom from all of this.

Heartless swarmed the path every couple of minutes and Ventus was having a more difficult time taking them down. He was almost out of potions and his magic could only aid him so much without any rests. In this dreary place there was just nowhere to hide and be safe from the looming darkness.

But he had to find _him._ He had to save _him_ before it was too late.

Ventus wasn’t going to let Vanitas become a total monster. He was already deranged from Xehanort’s abuse and guidance towards the path of darkness but the old Vanitas was still in there—there was still light within his heart and a boy who cared about others, who felt pain and sadness like everybody else.

Ventus would find him, pull him out of this world, then they would find Roxas and set off to ruin all of Xehanort’s plans. He would never sink his hooks into Kingdom Hearts, not if Ventus had anything to say about it.

_I had been so naïve in the past, so trusting but then I saw what you did to Vanitas. I can’t believe I ever looked up to you! I can’t believe I ignored the abuse for so long and couldn’t even see that you were torturing him!_

_Vanitas…I’m so sorry. And Roxas, I hope you’re safe._


	3. KIDS AND GODS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A boy tries to find his place in the world and even naive kids have their fair share of secrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to waywardriot for commenting last chapter! Every comment means a lot to us fic authors and is a delight!

_JOURNAL ENTRY XXX_

_Kairi bought me this journal to write my thoughts in. She said it’s because I’m quiet and probably have a lot to say that I don’t want people to hear. I guess she’s onto something. Perhaps she has one as well and gets what it’s like to suddenly be thrown into a new place full of strangers. She’s not from this world, apparently._

_Seifer obviously doesn’t like me but I don’t think he likes anyone. He and Hayner have some sort of feud. I think Hayner might actually like me? He keeps urging me to toss Seifer again but I don’t think that would be a good idea. But well if it makes him laugh then I suppose it isn’t such a bad idea. It’s a weird way to bond with someone but Hayner and the others are all pretty weird._

_I don’t like Riku very much. He’s distant but he’s really rude about it and gets pissed off if anyone asks him to join in on something. Sora keeps saying it’s hormones as if that explains everything but I think Riku is just an egotistic douchebag. I know his type all too well. He seems to be in a better mood around Sora and Kairi but some days even they can’t get him to be social. What does he have to brood about?_

_I don’t like Selphie, she keeps suddenly screaming and freaking me out because my first instinct is to always think something’s wrong but no, she’s just obnoxious. I’m glad that Olette and Kairi aren’t like that. I like hanging out with them. Even if Seifer teases me for hanging out with girls. He stopped when Sora showed up and I think he’s afraid of Sora? Not sure why. He seems pretty ok._

_Tidus and Wakka are ok too but not really fun to be around. They made fun of Pence for not liking to participate in all the fake fighting matches but I told them off. If Pence just wants to read a book or play his DS then what’s wrong with that? If you don’t enjoy doing something then you shouldn’t have to do it just to impress people._

_I think I’m finally starting to relax but I can’t help but freak out around loud noises or if I’m touched or pushed without warning. I keep thinking that it’s a Heartless about to take my heart or Organisation member ready to take me back._

_Signed, Roxas_

Roxas was sitting on the beach watching Riku and Sora spar. It really wasn’t that interesting after the tenth time watching them, even if they did have some tricks that Roxas thought was cool. They could probably fight for real if they didn’t just have wooden swords.

Hayner sat down next to Roxas with a heavy groan. “Man, I can’t believe Seifer beat me again! I swear he’s cheating.”

Roxas hadn’t seen their fight today but he could easily guess how it went. “As much as he is a jerk, he doesn’t cheat. We both know that.”

“I guess but that makes me feel worse. Like sorry if I’m not brawny and shit. It’s just unfair.”

“Not really. I could beat him and I’m probably shorter than you.”

Hayner hung his head in shame. “That’s so much worse to say! You’re really not good at comforting people!”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to be harsh.” _It’s just that where I come from, if you’re not the strongest then you’d probably die._

“It’s ok, weirdo, it’s just that it feels like I’ll never beat Seifer in a fight.”

Roxas didn’t see why it mattered. “So?”

“So I can put him in his place for being a dick!”

“Hey, are you twerps talking about me?”

Roxas turned and saw that indeed, the douche-king was here in all his glory. Maybe he could sense when people were trash-talking him. That seemed legit.

“If by _you_ we were saying what a colossal ass you are, then sure!”

“Chill out, chickenwuss, no need to throw a tantrum over your loss on my account. Or go crying to baby Roxas here.”

Roxas looked from Seifer to the sea, mentally estimating how far he could toss him from where he was standing. Pretty far it looked like. Pretty far indeed. But Hayner might feel bad and Roxas didn’t want that. He could fight his own battles; or arguments, in this case.

“Lay off of Roxas, he’s far cooler than you or your gang of knuckleheads!” Hayner yelled, very defensive and agitated all of the sudden. He sprang to his feet and marched over to Seifer who was sizing him up. They both looked ready for round two.

Did hormones explain this weird antagonistic air they both had too? Sora would probably say so. As if hormones made you into a completely different person.

“Pfft, he’s nothing but a weird freak who washed up on the beach. Like what’s up with that? We don’t know where’s he’s from but suddenly he’s a part of our group as if it doesn’t matter? And of course Sora is the biggest idiot of them all and didn’t even think to question him. He would probably invite a bloodthirsty killer in without a second thought about it!”

Despite the harsh way Seifer was going about it, he did have a point. He was right about more than one thing but Hayner wasn’t having it. “So what? We know he’s a far better person than you so that’s enough in my book. Roxas stays and you’ll just have to deal with it, dickhead.”

“He’s an outsider!”

“He’s one of us now whether you like it or not!”

Perhaps overhearing the ruckus (finally), Sora rushed over and Seifer shut his mouth and very clearly grew tense. “What’s going on over here?” Sora asked, either oblivious or ignoring the tension.

“Yeah, Seifer, what’s with the ruckus?” Hayner repeated, eying him and daring him to go on.

“Nothing, forget about it. But if that _freak_ ends up killing us all then just know that I was right.” With that, Seifer stormed off.

Hayner sighed in relief and turned to Sora. “Thanks man, I think I would have punched his jaw in if not for you.”

“But I didn’t do anything?”

“Trust me, you saved us.”

“Oh, cool, I’m gonna go back to kicking Riku’s ass now.”

And just like that he rushed off too.

Hayner shook his head and offered a smile to Roxas. “It gets me every time how afraid of Sora Seifer is. If anybody’s the chickenwuss it’s him.”

“Uh, because Sora can beat him in a fight?”

“What? Nah, even Tidus can best him sometimes and ain’t nobody afraid of an idiot like him. Nah, the reason he’s so afraid is cause…” Hayner trailed off and seemed to think better of it. “Actually, no, it’s better if you don’t know. It’s probably not what you think and you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Did Sora have a dark side? “Come on, now I’m curious!”

“I know but it wouldn’t be right of me to say. Actually, there’s a lot you don’t know and I feel weird talking about it, as much as I like you.” Realisation at his own phrasing caught on a few seconds later and he flung his arms about as if to erase it. “I mean that you’re cool and junk! Not like, the _like-like_ or nothing!”

Roxas tilted his head to the side, honestly confused. “What’s the ‘like-like’?”

“You know! The cooties! And junk!”

“No?”

“Cooties!” Screaming the word again didn’t make Roxas understand it any better. “Ah, you know what? Never mind. Pretend I said nothing.”

But Roxas couldn’t do that so the next time he was hanging out with Kairi and Olette he asked about these mysterious ‘cooties’ and they giggled at him.

Olette took pity on him and explained, “Oh, don’t worry about that. It’s a childish thing that we all grew out of. But I guess Hayner is still as immature as ever. Sometimes you just have to ignore what he says. It’s what the rest of us do.”

Perhaps Roxas would never understand these mysterious ‘cooties’ but if the girls didn’t seem bothered then he guessed it didn’t matter. Another hormone thing perhaps? Was it infectious? If Sora hung around Riku too much then would he be effected by the hormones too and be all broody? He hoped not. Roxas didn’t want a second Riku around.

*

Unfortunately for Roxas, one day when he was exploring the island by himself, not feeling like hanging out with anyone, he found Riku in a cave filled with childish drawings on the walls. Riku was looking at what appeared to be a wooden door, but it had no handle. He was inspecting it, perhaps wanting to open it.

Roxas knew what it was. He could _feel_ what it was. It couldn’t be opened. If it opened then…

“You shouldn’t mess around with that,” Roxas said, causing Riku to jump. Getting the drop on him was entertaining but it didn’t make the dread Roxas was feeling go away.

“Mess with what?” Riku asked, once he had recovered. He crossed his arms over his chest defensively and Roxas mimicked him.

“You don’t know what it is?”

Riku stared at him long and hard. Perhaps he had said too much.

“No, and you do?”

“No…”

A dark look crossed over Riku’s features then and he took a step forward—and Roxas could feel a _wrongness_ about him. There was more to this broody hormonal teen and he had to get out of this cave _now._

He bolted then and expected Riku to give chase but he was very much alone when he left the cave. He ran into Sora because of course he did.

“What’s wrong?” Sora asked. “You look pale and upset.”

“It’s nothing. I just don’t like caves…”

“Then why’d you go into one, silly? Anyway, have you seen Riku?”

 _Yes, he’s not normal. He’s so much worse._ “He’s in there.”

“Ahaha, perhaps he scared you! He isn’t usually one to pull pranks but he keeps being all spooky about things. Mostly I laugh when he does it. Sometimes he says the strangest things!” There was worry on Sora’s face, despite his smile as if he wanted Roxas to think everything was ok.

“Darkness…” Roxas said, looking away, “it’s within him.” He had to be vague about it so he wouldn’t upset Sora but he couldn’t just say nothing.

“Roxas, what do you mean?”

“I don’t think he’s the person you used to know. Sora, there’s something going on with him and we might all be in danger.”

Being coddled and stuck in a world like this made anyone naïve, so of course Sora refused his words. “Maybe you need to get some rest. It sounds like you’ve been having strange dreams.”

“This world is in danger!” Roxas exclaimed, so loud that a couple others looked over.

But again, Sora wouldn’t accept it and looked a little mad, a strange occurrence and disheartening to see. “It isn’t and there’s nothing wrong with Riku. You haven’t been here for long so you just don’t understand him. He’s dealing with some stuff…”

All Roxas’ frustration and anger poured into his words, “What stuff Sora?! What could any of you possibly be dealing with?!” He was breathing heavily and then covered his face. “To hell with this and _to_ _hell with you!_ He’s going to bring everyone down!” But he knew he didn’t make sense to those that knew nothing of the Heartless and Nobodies. So he chose to leave an awestruck Sora and head to the other side of the island where he hoped no one would be.

Seifer and his crew were by the water but far enough away that they probably didn’t notice him, so he sat under the shade of some trees and curled up into a ball, feeling awful.

Sora didn’t deserve to be yelled at but Riku didn’t deserve to be defended.

Socialising and knowing how to get people to like you was hard and no one understood. In the Organisation it hadn’t have mattered if anyone liked you. Roxas had just been fortunate enough to have been able to make friends there… Friends who now weren’t here for him because their cause was more appealing than supporting him and taking his side.

He wished that Xion were here. She’d know what to say. She’d make Sora believe him about Riku.

Just because the world hated him, Seifer seemed to spot him and decided to walk over and stand over him, his height intimidating but not working at all on Roxas. Even with him sitting, Roxas could still beat him in a fight probably by simply kicking a leg out.

“Hey, freak, what’s got you looking more awful than usual?”

“Go away or I’ll toss you out to sea again.”

“Damn, you’re very pissy today. What, got your period?”

Roxas didn’t know what that was. His education hadn’t told him but he assumed it was an insult. Maybe he’d have to ask the girls what it was later. They seemed to know most things. “I mean it, I’ll fling you out to where the sharks can get you.” He couldn’t do that with his strength (he really wasn’t _that_ strong) but perhaps with some magic…

“Chill out, would ya? All I’m doing is asking what’s up. No need to get all pissy.”

Roxas glared at him and then looked at the ground. It really wasn’t any of this guy’s business. In fact, he was the last person Roxas was going to confide in.

Seifer, not understanding what ‘go away’ meant, sat down in front of him and started drawing in the sand with a stick. He looked bored but not outright annoyed to be here. Why the hell was he still here?

“Something happen with the others?” Seifer asked, doodling a crappy excuse for a circle.

Silence.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Some bullshit drama if I gotta guess. What, did you pick a fight with Hayner or something?”

“No!” Roxas exclaimed, because he didn’t want Seifer to get the wrong idea. “Riku was being creepy. He’s going to ruin everything and _no one cares because no one believes me but I know there’s something wrong with him!_ ” He was breathing heavily and was so angry that no one was listening. Something bad was going to happen and soon.

Seifer, for his credit, seemed startled by his outburst. “And what do you think is gonna happen? Nothing ever happens.”

“Darkness…will come here. If that Door is opened then…” Roxas shook his head. “Never mind, I don’t know why I’m telling you of all people.”

Yep, Seifer was giving him an odd look. “You really are a freak sometimes.”

“That’s it, you’re getting a one-way ticket into the ocean!”

But before Roxas could commit to his threat, they were both startled when they heard a scream before the wind picked up and dark clouds suddenly seemed to form in the sky.

Seifer jumped to his feet and Rai and Fuu were at his side within seconds, passing him a wooden weapon.

“What’s wrong?” Roxas asked, following them.

“Sora,” Seifer simply said.

When they got to the other side of the island, Hayner shot Roxas a sour look, eying Seifer. “Huh, seems like you guys are friends now. Fantastic.”

“Far from it,” Roxas was quick to say, not sure why it would even matter if it were true. Instead of focusing on that he was more interested in Sora who seemed to be floating in the air with glazed-over eyes as air seemed to swirl around him. Roxas could feel the power of it and was frightened to get too close.

Caught in the wind were little black creatures with yellow eyes—the Heartless. Directing his arms, Sora hurled these creatures far off into the sea before the wind died down and he dropped to the ground, falling to his knees. Kairi was at his side in an instant and rubbing his back, softly whispering what may have been comforting words.

What Roxas didn’t get was the fact that no one seemed surprised by any of this, only fearful, Seifer especially.

“Does he often do that?” Roxas asked.

“Not for a long time. He didn’t want you to see him do this kind of stuff. Didn’t want you to get scared like everyone else usually does,” Hayner said. “In fact, he told us all not to do anything weird but I guess you’re in on the secret now—well, one at least.”

Seifer whacked Hayner on the back of the head. “Shut up! He’s still an outsider.”

“Lay off, he’s one of us now,” Hayner hissed back. “If you have an issue then you can take it up with Sora or even Kairi. I’m sure she’ll be pleased to hear just how accepting you are.”

Seifer huffed and sauntered away with his crew, now that the disturbance was over with which just went to show how much he cared about other people.

Roxas, perhaps the only other person besides Kairi with the guts to approach Sora, sat down beside him and felt good when Kairi gave him an appreciated look.

“That was pretty cool,” Roxas said, not sure how to phrase it. “Do the Heartless come here often?”

“The Heartless?” Sora asked in confusion.

“Those creatures…”

“Oh, so they do have a name! Yeah, they show up sometimes and one of the three of us usually kick them off the island. They’re dangerous but keep coming back.”

Roxas raised an eyebrow and looked at Kairi. “Do you have a cool power as well?”

“Y-Yes,” she hesitated to say. “I can…control water. I usually use waves to take care of them but Sora usually prefers to do it. There’s other things I can do as well, not related to the water thing, but I don’t quite understand them yet.”

Sora, perhaps excited now that Roxas was in the loop, exclaimed, “We can use keyblades!”

“Sora!” Kairi complained, sighing. “He probably doesn’t know what those are.”

Already energised by the topic, Sora went as far to summon one in his hands and Roxas knew its name instantly. “Kingdom Key…”

Sora gasped and stared at Roxas in utter fascination. “You know what this is?!”

“Yes, I can also use keyblades…” _Two in fact._

“Summon it!”

Roxas shook his head, even if seeing Sora’s disappointment hurt. “The Heartless are attracted to them. The reason they might be drawn here is because you have it out.” _And also because of how pure of heart some people on this island seem to be._

Sora and Kairi looked horrified. “I didn’t know!” Sora cried out, quickly sending his away and looking effectively freaked out and guilty.

“None of us did,” Kairi said soothingly. “You, Riku, and I are all at fault for this.”

What were the chances of ending up on an island where other keyblade wielders were? It could be pure coincidence or fate itself. Whatever the case, it was dangerous for so many to be in one place. The Heartless desired their hearts the most and already knew where they were.

“Where is Riku, anyway?” Roxas asked, not actually sure if he wanted to know.

“He never came out of the cave,” Sora said slowly. “In fact, he’s been in there for a long time.”

The clouds in the sky were still as dark as ever and the wind was picking up again, starting to howl and screech. Sora definitely wasn’t doing that.

“Holy cow, there’s more!” Tidus yelled, pointing at the cave where a swarm of Heartless rushed out.

Sora and Kairi got to their feet brandishing wind and water and got to work taking out the Heartless. All they could really do was send them flying into the ocean but without using their keyblades Roxas just knew it wouldn’t do much good.

“What in the heck is that?!” Sephire yelled, pointing towards the sky where what appeared to be a black hole was, getting bigger and bigger. It seemed to be sucking in debris for the moment but the pull was getting stronger and stronger.

“The Door has been opened…” Roxas murmured to himself. The Keyhole needed to be sealed or this island, this world, would probably be consumed by darkness. And he was going to be the one to do it with everyone else busy even if using his keyblades might bring more harm to this place.

He rushed towards the cave and broke through a mob of Shadows with Oathkeeper in hand. Perhaps if he used just one then not as many Heartless would arrive, but he could only hope.

Riku was standing before the opened Door and the opened Keyhole and seemed to be in a trance. When he realised Roxas was here he turned and smiled.

“Now we can all go to other worlds,” Riku said, not quite sounding like himself.

“We have to seal it back up,” urged Roxas. “Right now.”

“No, it’s ok. We can explore the universe now, just like Sora and Kairi wanted… We’ll all go together…”

“Riku, if we don’t do this then Sora and Kairi might be hurt by the Heartless! Snap out of it!”

“They fear the darkness but there’s nothing to fear. They’ll come with me. I’ll make them see that there’s no need to be afraid. As long as we’re together everything will be ok.”

“Riku…”

Roxas lunged forward, intent on the Keyhole but Riku merely raised an arm and blasted Roxas out of the air with surprising force. He had used a blast of darkness and Roxas crumpled in a heap, his head and body reeling from the negative force. As a being of light the effects were only more dangerous and he felt a wave of nausea wash over him.

“There’s nothing to fear… Nothing to fear…” Riku murmured before Roxas drifted off.

*

A Dusk who had found Roxas by pure luck had been monitoring him for the entire day. It had seen the mysterious new keyblade wielders and then had seen Roxas rush into a cave. It hadn’t dared to follow, not wanting to be slain despite it knowing that its lifespan would be small no matter what it did.

It watched from the shadows as more Heartless gathered and then watched as the island was slowly torn apart as all the kids fought the horde.

Soon its Master arrived and stood with it in the shadows, witnessing the destruction all unfold and didn’t lift a finger to do anything. This island was doomed from the start and not just because of Roxas’ arrival.

When Roxas’ unconscious body was tossed out of the cave, the Dusk’s current Master moved as if to go to his aid but then paused, catching himself. His anger was all too clear as the air around them heated and was soon scorching but they both knew it was dangerous to do anything now with so many strange teenagers around.

One wearing green was quick to check on Roxas while the one who had been using wind as a form of attack stood before a guy who was being consumed by darkness. He held his hand out and the wind user reached out to grab his hand but was too late.

In mere minutes, the whole island broke apart and so many teenagers were swept up into the blackhole in the sky. Soon Roxas, and every other straggler, were pulled in as well.

“Good job on finding him,” the Dusk’s Master said. “You’re promoted to Assassin status. It’s only fair. Now, as much as I don’t want to we should report this to Saix. Ah, if only we could have just grabbed Roxas and gotten out of here but I guess he’ll have to wait.”

The Dusk’s Master, Axel, looked unhappy about that but didn’t let his disappointment kill his mood for long. In one way or another they were going to get Roxas back. And it didn’t matter who got in the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Currently as I’m posting this my word count for this fic (including future chapters not released yet) is at 16000+! Oh boy. See, this is what happens when I return to this fandom and remember my love for writing fanfic and for my boy Roxas! *cough* I’m also working on a pirate AU that is real dark with a very different Roxas *cough*
> 
> The next update may take time! Need to have pauses between posting chapters or I won't have any new content before long!


	4. MADNESS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A boy falls down a rabbit hole and another tries to hold onto hope.

He felt like he had been hit by a truck. When he was starting to wake he could hardly move his aching bones. Argh. He hated darkness sometimes (or all the time).

When he opened his eyes he was met with way too many colours and didn’t like it one bit. It was a vomit of rainbow and could he smell sugar and cake? Where had he ended up exactly?

His vision was getting clearer every second and he found himself seated at a table full of cutlery, teapots, and teacups of all kinds. Most were flowery and fragile-looking and not something he was used to seeing. Marluxia used to have a tea-set. He had served Roxas tea a couple times and it had been nice…

_No, don’t think about those times._

He wasn’t the only one seated because a rabbit and a goofy-looking man wearing a far too large top-hat were on the other side of the table. They were sipping teacups with nothing in them.

“Where am I?” Roxas asked.

“Wonderland, of course!” the rabbit replied before cackling as if somehow it was funny.

_Wonderland? I know this place… Oh, there was once this book that never made sense to me. Namine read it to me once…_

“Ok, is this a dream?”

“Absolutely!”

“Spectacularly!”

“Undoubtedly!”

“Fantastically!”

The March Hare and Hatter cackled with laughter. But then they shot disapproving looks at Roxas. “No room! No room!”

_Ah, and so right now I’m Alice…_

“There’s plenty of room,” he said, but didn’t mind leaving either way. But it’s what he remembered Alice saying in that book.

“Have some wine,” the March Hare said.

“No, I’m fine without anything,” Roxas replied, eying all the tea and not seeing one bottle of wine. But he didn’t much feel like dealing with these two, remembering all the insanity poor Alice had been put through in this world. In fact, this place felt very much real.

He got out of his seat and stumbled, still weak from Riku’s attack. Determined to find out what had happened and find his friends, he forced himself to stand and walk and kept going even when the March Hare and Hatter were yelling nonsense at his back.

“Why is a raven like a writing-desk?”

“Who cares?” Roxas grumbled to himself. Riddles weren’t his thing.

When he entered the area that the tea-party had been in, he arrived in a forest area full of large flowers and Heartless. Even with what little strength he had, he was able to deal with them quickly enough but was exhausted by the time he was done. He needed a potion or proper rest and he just didn’t carry any potions in his Organisation coat right now.

This place was another world. And so it must have a Keyhole and he had to seal it. He had failed on that island but he wouldn’t fail here.

_JOURNAL ENTRY XXX_

_I don’t think anyone else ended up here. It’s been two days at least and I haven’t seen anyone from the island._

_The people of this world, these characters, make about as much sense as Demyx did when he was drunk (and he never made much sense normally, at least to me anyway)._

_I met Alice and the Red Queen was accusing her of something that the Heartless did. They wanted me to find evidence but it was quicker to just free Alice of the cage and fight the Red Queen’s troops. Alice went missing in all the chaos and I’m not sure where she is now. I hope she’s ok._

_I haven’t seen any Nobodies but I keep feeling like I’m being watched—not by the Heartless, they’re not really ones to lurk. They’re always more upfront._

_I’m not sure where the Keyhole is but I’m sure I’ll find it soon. The Cheshire Cat hinted at where it is but I don’t trust cats who smile far too wide. Wish me luck._

_Signed, Roxas_

In the building that the Cheshire Cat had indicated, Roxas found the Keyhole. Or it was better to describe it as _sensed_ _it._ He just knew it was in this room but something else was here too. Something big and lean and mean.

It was a Heartless known as Trickmaster which was far taller than Roxas and twirled bats in its hands and juggled them too. It moved around a lot but Roxas knew it wouldn’t be too hard to defeat—if he were at his normal peak performance that was. But whatever Riku had done to him was still present and he wasn’t able to use any special attacks on it without feeling worse.

All he could do was rush it and attack and attack with his keyblades, not allowing it any time to recover or pull a counter-attack. If it was dealt with quickly then he could seal up the Keyhole and perhaps find a way out of this world. Just when he thought the Trickmaster was critically wounded, it smacked Roxas away and sent him flying across the room.

“Ouch.” The ground was nice and cool but this wasn’t over yet. He got back up, ready to face it again and felt dizzy. “Argh, just die already!”

The bats started to blaze with fire.

“Oh _come on!_ ”

Roxas took a step forward and started to sway. “Damn it! Just one more attack then I can rest!” He fought against his own weakness and reached within himself before grabbing onto that power that always rested within him.

Light flooded his body but with barely a couple seconds to keep it up, he lurched at the Trickmaster and put all he could in this final attack, striking it with pure light and blades that materialised out of the air, also made of light. Luckily, with this strike, the Trickmaster burst into shadow and dropped munny and green orbs that only gave Roxas momentary relief.

Drained but not willing to give up at this point, he pointed Oathkeeper at the Keyhole (which was a strange doorknob with a face) and managed to seal it. Once he heard a clicking sound, he allowed himself to give into sleep and collapsed.

*

“RIKU! RIKU!” Sora called, hoping his friend would magically surface if he yelled his name loud enough. But Riku didn’t appear and he sighed but didn’t let it get to him.

He had ended up in this world called Traverse Town that looked really nice with all the streetlights and goofy shops but so many of his friends were missing. Kairi was with him at least so that was something but they hadn’t found anyone else.

Roxas had looked hurt when the island had been breaking apart and so Sora hoped he was ok, especially after Roxas was right about what had happened. How did Roxas even know, though? Sora couldn’t sense things and Riku had not been weird at all (except for when darkness had been grabbing at him, which fine, had been slightly strange).

Kairi cut down a couple Heartless with her keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, and sighed in relief when no more popped up. She was just as afraid as Sora to keep using their keyblades after what Roxas had said, and even more so when a man named Leon told them the same thing. Leon was a cool guy though, and so were his friends. They were all helping to try and find everyone who was missing but of course nobody else had turned up.

Searching the Second District once again, there was now a collapsed body in front of the fountain. A shadowy figure stood over them who turned and vanished into a portal of darkness before Sora and Kairi could get too close.

Just like when they had first met, the collapsed body was Roxas.

“He’s ok!” Sora exclaimed, scrambling to hug him but Kairi stopped him.

“He’s hurt. We have to get him to Leon and the others immediately!” she reasoned.

“Oh, haha, right. Let’s go!”

*

Roxas, once again waking up to the unknown surrounded by strangers, groaned and held his head in his hands. He really did have to stop passing out.

“ROXAS!”

Sora burst into the room, followed by Kairi, and swept him up into his arms, squeezing him and not at all making it easy for Roxas to breathe.

“Ack—lungs being crushed!”

“Whoops!” Sora let go and laughed as Roxas gasped for air.

“That would have been an embarrassing way to die,” a girl with dark hair said.

“Yes Sora, please be a little more careful,” a taller girl said with brown hair that was plaited.

The mysterious man simply gave Sora a disapproving look but it didn’t work on Sora who merely looked a tad sheepish and not at all guilty. “This is Roxas!” he said, as if introducing Roxas would make his actions not matter.

“Yes, you said that already,” the man said.

“But now he’s awake!”

“We’re the ones that should be getting introduced.”

“Oh right! Roxas, this is Leon and Yuffie and Aerith! They’re our new friends!”

Roxas waved awkwardly, not knowing what to say. “Hey…”

“Who was that guy that brought you here?” Kairi asked.

“What guy?” He was in Wonderland one second and then the next…

“Well, I think they were a guy. They were covered in shadows. It was very odd,” she explained.

“I don’t know. I was alone in another world and now I’m here. I never met anyone like that.” He would have remembered.

“Maybe it was Riku!” Sora suggested brightly.

Roxas scrunched up his face. “No way.”

“It might have been!”

“Doubt it.”

“But he uses shadowy stuff!”

“No, Sora.”

“Getting back on track,” said Leon, “now that there’s three of your kind around, the Heartless will try even harder to get your hearts.”

“We’re aware,” Kairi said.

“Good, so be careful. And don’t trust anyone who’s using the power of darkness.” He focused on Sora especially. “Darkness corrupts, it always does. It might even corrupt those who once had a pure heart so make sure to be on your guard.”

“Riku’s not like that,” Sora said with so much confidence that it was hard for anyone to try and speak against him. He believed so deeply that Riku was on the right path when clearly that was becoming the opposite of the truth.

Even Kairi looked doubtful of Riku’s situation but didn’t have the heart to say otherwise.

Leon sighed. “Just promise to be careful, that’s all I ask.”

“Well duh! We’re always careful!”

“You broke your arm once because you wouldn’t sit down in the boat and were showing off,” Kairi pointed out.

“That was one time!”

“And then that time you broke a finger because…”

“I’m older now and much more mature.”

“It was literally last month.”

“No it wasn’t!”

“Yes it was!”

Their bickering only reminded Roxas of Xion and Axel when they were playfully teasing him so he couldn’t help but feel envious. Or perhaps it was jealously? But he didn’t feel angry, only sad and a bit homesick. _But I don’t have a home anymore…_

Roxas looked at Sora and Kairi and just felt worse. He really didn’t belong here. He wasn’t meant to be here. Maybe he should have been left in Wonderland. Maybe he was meant to go around sealing Keyholes. That could be his destiny.

When everyone left and told him to sleep, he got ready for bed and felt around his pockets only to find a crumpled up letter near his journal.

The letter read:

_Dear Roxas,_

_I hope you have been doing well._

_I cannot come find you right now I’m afraid._

_I am…unable to return for some time._

_Please don’t worry and may you be safe wherever you are._

_I assume you’re where you’re meant to be or close to getting there._

_Take care._

_Signed, Ven_

When had it been put in his pocket? He definitely hadn’t found it when he had been writing entries in his journal. And how come it was so short and each sentence clipped, as if there hadn’t been much time to write it? Ventus was definitely in some trouble and offering false reassurances just to make him feel better.

_Ven, just where are you? What are you doing?_

_…When are you going to come back?_

*

Ventus, just as he said in his letter, was very much unable to return to the worlds of light. Deep within the shadows he was detained within a webbed cocoon of black. It was the only way he wouldn’t be in any immediate danger and he trusted the maker of it wholeheartedly. The problem was that the maker was Xehanort’s puppet and didn’t often have individual thoughts of his own.

The puppet, Vanitas, stood within the cocoon and blinked owlishly at Ventus who rested on the ground, unable to move much. He wasn’t restrained in any way, just weak of heart. It had taken a lot out of him to try and bring Vanitas back and now some of his heart seemed to reside within Vanitas in hiding.

“Did he get the note?” Ventus asked.

Of course Vanitas couldn’t answer and of course Ventus knew the answer already. He could practically see through Vanitas’ eyes now.

“You have to return to your Master, don’t you?” questioned Ventus. “Well, that’s ok. Don’t let him get to you and take away anything else. You don’t deserve to be controlled by him or turned into another vessel. You deserve to be as free as I do.”

Vanitas didn’t react and merely blinked before putting on his helmet. He couldn’t even show a sneer or glare anymore. There was just nothing—no, not nothing. There was still a heart within and a light and a part of Ventus’ heart. It was like it was all caged within an unfeeling shell.

“I’ll stop him, Van,” Ventus murmured. “I promise I will.”

Vanitas stared at him, pausing, before leaving through a dark corridor to attend to his Master.

“I’ll…stop him,” repeated Ventus weakly. “Or perhaps I’ll fade away before then…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, I should just say that I don’t think it’d be interesting if entire chapters are dedicated to single worlds plus does anyone actually want a rewrite of all the events of KH1? No, it just wouldn’t be interesting! And yeah Roxas’ letters are a way to timeskip in a fun way! Because I seriously do not wanna waste time on boring stuff. Everyone already knows what Wonderland was like for Sora! Don't need an entire rewrite!


	5. SET THE STAGE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A boy meets an old flame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! We just reached a chapter that was fun as heck to write! But first I must thank Waywardriot for commenting yet again, you’re so nice! Go check out their fanfic Into Darkness, it’s fantastic so far, especially if you love VanVen! And also thank you to Kkmonkey! Reviews give us fanfic writers life!

_JOURNAL ENTRY XXX_

_I’ve been fighting Heartless with Sora and Kairi for the last few days and teaching them a few things. It turns out that they’re not very experienced with keyblades. They’re actually better with their magic, even Sora who says he’s been using swords all his life!_

_Riku was always better than them, apparently, because of course he was. The ever perfect Riku who has yet to show up and who started all of this._

_Hayner and Seifer turned up. We found them having a shouting match and well things are just chaos without their groups around to hold them both back. At least Sora and Kairi make sure Seifer doesn’t go overboard but sometimes Hayner needs to chill out too. I guess that’s my job now? Seems like it._

_I miss Olette and Pence so I can relate to what Hayner is feeling and I guess on some level, Seifer as well. But I’m sure they’re all ok._

_We met a talking duck and dog yesterday. They’re looking for some king but I told them we don’t have time for that. No offense but my friends are more important than some stranger, even Kairi seemed to agree (and Seifer did, very loudly and rudely). Sora was upset by us turning them down but he’ll get over it._

_We can’t afford to get distracted. Especially with more Heartless showing up by the day._

_Signed, Roxas_

Seifer and Hayner now had weapons, which Roxas wasn’t sure was a good thing. Seifer had a gunblade (Leon gave it to him and was training him how to use it), and Hayner had a sword. And of course the dramatic duo kept trying to fight each other with their new weapons but stopped whenever Kairi splashed them with water.

“So what the hell is a Keyhole anyway and why do you know about it, freak?” Seifer asked Roxas as the group explored the town.

“They’re hard to explain but if we seal them then it’d prevent the world from plunging into darkness. And to answer your second question, I can sense them.”

“Right, because that doesn’t sound weird at all. How come no one else can sense it?”

“None of your business is why!” Hayner butted in.

“Nobody asked you, chickenwuss.”

“Say that to my face!”

“I just did!”

“Stop it,” Kairi growled, causing them to shut up almost immediately.

Roxas led them to the Second District where the pull of the Keyhole directed him. And he could sense that it was located at the fountain. But now that they had found it, he just knew something would appear to defend it.

An assortment of purple armour parts dropped down from the sky and formed into a body. Roxas identified it to the others without hesitation, “Guard Armour. Make sure to attack in groups on its parts when it separates.”

“Got it!” Sora said very seriously, completely focused on the enemy. He wasn’t even smiling.

“How come no one is commenting on the fact that the freak knows this stuff?” Seifer asked, but nobody listened or cared and simply rushed into battle. “Argh.”

With five people, the battle was over in minutes and no one seemed to be hurt. Winded and with a few bruises, perhaps, but nothing more than that. Roxas didn’t even have to put all his strength into it.

He got Kairi to seal the Keyhole and she did it with ease.

“Now what?” Sora asked.

“Cid did say that the Gummi Ship would be ready within an hour and it’s been some time,” Kairi said. “So I guess that means we can go to another world and try to find everyone. Roxas probably wasn’t the only one who didn’t end up here at first.”

“Then let’s go already, we’ve already wasted enough time here,” Hayner said, already rushing off.

“As much as I hate to agree with him, he’s right.” Seifer rushed off after him and soon they were both yelling at each other.

“I wish they’d just get along,” Kairi groaned.

“I dunno, I think they’re funny sometimes,” Sora said, because of course he’d find them entertaining.

*

With the Gummi Ship, they were able to travel to other worlds but only if they had the right coordinates. Next they ended up at Deep Jungle which was full with apes and Heartless to match. As the name implied, the world was full of jungle-life and so chaotic to get around. It was so easy to get lost among the abundance of trees and vines, not to mention to be on edge whenever the growls of a leopard could be heard.

Roxas didn’t like this place, and not just because of those reasons. Again, here he felt like he was being watched and he managed to spot a creature of white through some trees before it danced out of sight. He was alone and had been searching for Sora who had fallen off a ledge. He was probably fine but who really knew with him.

Again, Roxas caught sight of white and stopped walking. He could hear rustling and his skin tingled. His senses were never wrong and something, other than the Heartless, was definitely here. In fact, more than one.

He summoned his keyblades as a group of Dusks appeared, their voices in his head.

_My Liege! We have found you!_

_Come back with us!_

_Come back to us!_

_My Liege!_

_My Liege!_

_My Liege!_

Since no one else was around, it seemed ok to talk to them. “I can’t. I ran away.”

_Come back with us!_

_Come back to us!_

_Come back!_

_Come back!_

_Come back!_

_WE’LL MAKE YOU COME BACK!_

And then, as expected, they attacked but were no match for Roxas, even if he wasn’t used to fighting Nobodies. The twists and twirls were irritating to deal with but he soon had them all down and defeated. It was a little sad to watch them fade away into nothingness.

There was clapping. Loud clapping.

He tensed up and turned to see a hooded figure sporting an almost exact coat of his, except this one was tailored for someone taller.

“Alright, Roxas! Fight fight fight!”

“Axel…” Roxas didn’t send his keyblades away. In fact, he got into a fighting stance.

Axel pulled back his hood and grinned at Roxas as if he was delighted to see him again. Whether the smile was genuine, Roxas couldn’t tell. He knew what Axel was like behind the scenes, being a master manipulator and exploiting anyone he had to in order to accomplish his goals. Many had fallen to those flames of his, and many more would fall.

“Tracking you down wasn’t easy, I’ll tell you that for free. In fact not so long ago you were on some island, then Wonderland, a tiny town, and now here of all places. How did you even get off of Wonderland by the way? Luxord was going to retrieve you but then poof! You were gone the next instant! How did you pull that off in your sleep? Quite a feat, I must say.”

“Why can’t you all leave me alone?” Roxas asked, not wanting to give him a slice of information.

Axel noticed the change in subject and pointed to the keyblades. “You always were secretive. When you learned you could summon two nobody knew about that until a long time. And then your light powers… Xemnas was pleased to find out about all of it, even praising you. And yet you had tried so hard to keep it all hidden. What’s there to hide among us?”

Roxas didn’t give him an answer. Nobodies and Heartless feared the light. He hadn’t wanted them to hate him but now he wished they did. This light was going to hurt them if they kept trying to pull him back into their clutches.

“Get out of my way,” Roxas said firmly.

“Why? Got anywhere to be?” Axel mocked.

“I do actually. I have friends now— _real_ ones.”

“What do you mean? You have real ones already. You have Xion, and Namine, and me.”

Roxas glared. “And now I have new ones that won’t try and kidnap me.”

Axel raised his eyebrows. “Kidnapping? That isn’t what this is. You’re just confused. Come back to us. We need you now more than ever.”

“No!”

“Well, if you refuse to listen to reason then I guess we’ll have to do things the hard way. You always were stubborn.” Axel summoned his chakrams and twirled them around before getting into his own fighting stance. “Get ready!”

A ring of fire formed around them, keeping them in an enclosed area. Axel was serious about this and Roxas had only heard rumours of what he could actually do. Whatever the case, he was ready.

“Bring it!”

Axel, not usually one for fighting, surprised Roxas when he closed the gap between them and swung his chakrams. Roxas barely had time to block before Axel shot backwards and then swooped in again and again, grinning all the while.

 _Well, if that’s how you’re going to play this…_ “Light!” Roxas let off an explosion of it which sent Axel flying back into the wall of fire, but of course he didn’t get burnt and probably couldn’t feel the searing heat of it like Roxas could. But the light attack clearly had an effect as Axel wasn’t smiling anymore but he wasn’t slowing down either.

Axel, pulling out all the stops, jumped back and disappeared into the flames. Where he was lurking, Roxas wasn’t sure, but he was careful to put himself in the middle of the area, not wanting to give Axel a short distance to get to him.

Circling around, he tried to sense Axel but was too late in detecting him before a burst of flame hit him and he was struck by a chakram. He managed to block the other one and recovered his cool just as Axel tried to barrage him with an array of fireballs which were deflected, though they caused the metal of Roxas’ keyblades to heat up and his hands felt burnt, even on the handles.

Axel disappeared back into the flames.

“Not this time,” Roxas muttered before waiting a couple seconds before shooting off beams of light around him, which swirled around his form—Axel ran right into them and cursed before stumbling back.

Once the light died down, Axel was back at slashing at Roxas and Roxas was back to defending.

“Starting to feel the heat?” Axel snarked in-between blows.

“Not even a little,” Roxas shot back.

But there was more to Axel’s words as he paused in slashing and smiled, slyly, before snapping his fingers—next second, the entire area was set ablaze in an explosion of fire and Roxas could only feel pain upon pain.

It was a wonder he was still standing when all the fire died down then vanished as Axel clapped. But he refused to go down and stood up straight and shook his body, as if shaking the attack off. Now that Axel had no walls of fire to hide in this fight was going to be a lot easier.

“If I put everything into that attack then there would be nothing left of you,” Axel claimed.

“Magic doesn’t leave physical wounds,” Roxas said.

“Sure, but it can kill people if you use enough of it.”

Roxas didn’t let his fear show and hoped his defiance was all too clear. Axel wasn’t going to kill him so matter what attack he tried, it wouldn’t cause permanent damage. There was no reason to be afraid (and yet he doubted his own ability to beat Axel after his show of strength).

“You’re not bringing me back, just give up,” Roxas told him.

“You should have more faith in me.”

“At this rate, the two of you will be here all day. Let me handle this.”

Roxas and Axel looked over in surprise at a newcomer dressed in a strange outfit that looked like muscle-tissue with what looked like a Heartless sign on his chest. This newcomer was the ever elusive Riku who Roxas hadn’t seen since the island incident.

“I’ve got this,” Axel snapped, not at all pleased to see Riku. He seemed to know him.

“Oh please, you’ve barely done anything yet. I’ll show you how to handle a keyblade wielder.”

Just like before, Riku managed to hit Roxas with darkness but this time it was a volley of them that seemed to try and dig into his very soul—to his heart itself. It left Roxas falling to the ground weakly and moving, as if to somehow fight the darkness off. He hated the feel of it, the _wrongness._ It was the same wrongness that was in the yellow of Riku’s once aqua eyes.

The darkness just wouldn’t go away—would it consume his light?

Roxas heard screaming but he soon realised it was his own. It just wasn’t going away! He wanted it off of him right now but it was pulling him and tugging him and his heart ached and the pain of it, oh the pain of it…

“Roxas!” he thought he heard Axel exclaim, perhaps in concern but he couldn’t be sure. “Whatever you’re doing to him stop it right now or I swear…”

“You swear what exactly? I’ve hardly done a thing. He’ll be easier to contain this way. I’m sure Xemnas won’t mind.”

“You didn’t have to go so far.”

“Well you obviously weren’t up to the job.”

Roxas’ screaming soon died down but he still wasn’t able to move, as if his body was being held down by weights. His skin prickled, the darkness still on him and sending waves of dread through his heart. The more afraid of the darkness one is, the stronger it becomes.

Fortunately he was no longer alone as Hayner and Seifer showed up, bursting through the trees. “See? I told you I heard screams!” Hayner exclaimed before rushing over to Roxas and standing in front of him protectively, glaring at Axel and Riku.

Seifer rolled his eyes and lazily drew out his gunblade. “I don’t know what you guys did to the freak but I just can’t let it slide. I need the lame-squad intact unfortunately.” He pointed the gunblade at Riku, perhaps finding him as the biggest threat.

Axel gritted his teeth but held back his tongue for once.

“We’re going to kick your ass for what you did to Roxas, I can promise you that,” Hayner threatened, readying his sword.

“Heh, neither of you are any match for even a lowly Nobody,” Riku claimed, “let alone either of us. Neither of you even wield a keyblade, how sad.” He summoned a twisted version of one into a hand that looked more like a sword rather than a key.

Just in the nick of time, Sora and Kairi were on the scene next with their own keyblades drawn. As soon as Sora spotted Riku he exclaimed, “RIKU! You’re ok!” There was a pause, as if time stood still, before Sora spotted Roxas laying on the ground next. Realisation at what may have happened dawned on his face. “You didn’t do this, did you? Please tell me it was that red-headed guy over there.”

Riku looked away, the gold in his eyes flickering to aqua. “…”

“Riku…”

Axel sent his chakrams away and sighed. “As much as it pains me to say but it seems we’re outnumbered. I don’t really care what you do,” he said, looking to Riku. And then he glanced at Sora and tossed something to him which was caught, almost dropped. “Take care of Roxas for me, would ya? I’m going to bring him back soon.”

And with that, Axel opened up a dark corridor and left without another word.

“You…hurt Roxas,” Sora said to Riku, slumping and with his hair hiding his eyes. “He warned me about you and again and again I told him that you weren’t a bad person. But here he is, hurt again, and all because I didn’t listen.” Sora looked up with tears and anger in his eyes and the wind started to pick up and howl through the trees. “Well I’m listening now and it’s clear that whatever side you’ve taken, it’s hurting my friends. It hurts that things are like this now but I won’t allow you to hurt Roxas or anyone else ever again!”

It was like the sun had hidden away and yet in the darkness of the clouds that had appeared in the sky, the light that was Sora still burned strong and waves of power was buzzing around him. His keyblade, Kingdom Key, took on a new form, as if theming itself after the jungle they were in. Sora, ignoring the change, approached Riku who looked afraid of Sora for perhaps the first time in his life.

But who was afraid of Sora? Riku, or the darkness within him?

Riku backed away and the aqua in his eyes switched back to gold. He made a sour expression before turning and rushing into the corridor of darkness Axel had left open. It closed behind him and seconds passed before the wind died down and the sunlight returned.

Everyone surrounded Roxas, still downed by the darkness.

“You’re going to be ok, Roxas,” Kairi reassured. “I found out something new I can do.” She placed her hands above his heart and warm light swept over him, burning the darkness away. The warmth was so inviting, so comforting, that he allowed it to push him into his dreams.

*

On the Gummi Ship, Roxas was put on a small bed to rest. Sora watched over him like a worried sentinel and wouldn’t let anything else happen to him. He could hear Seifer arguing with Hayner and Kairi outside, wanting to question Roxas when he woke up what that was all about. Sora trusted Roxas and trusted that he would tell them the truth when he had the confidence.

Sora took out the item that the weird red-headed guy had given him. It was a Hi-Potion, which was strange to give to your enemy. It seemed to be safe as the seal was unbroken so he used it on Roxas and was pleased to see some colour return to his skin. Kairi could heal people to a certain extent but she still had to master her power and needed more training.

She and Sora had been busy sealing the forest’s Keyhole and so they had been very late to the encounter. At least they had gotten there in time. But what if they hadn’t? Could have Seifer and Hayner really have taken on Riku and that other guy?

Sora sighed and crossed his arms, leaning back. He just hoped that Riku would come back to the light eventually. He really didn’t want to fight him.

The next world on the map was the Olympus Coliseum. Perhaps they would all catch a lucky break there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about giving Sora Oathkeeper, since his oath is to protect his friends, but Roxas has it and Oblivion for a reason.


	6. STRIFE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A boy fights a fallen hero and another meets a creature of the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to the comments from Waywardriot and Kkmonkey! MWAH! And LOL I live such an exciting adult life. I’m editing and posting a fanfic chapter on a Saturday night! Wild (don’t ever grow up it sucks)

While everyone else was out exploring the Olympus Coliseum for the Keyhole (and participating in the tournament for fame and glory), Hayner was watching over Roxas who had yet to wake up. He made Sora go with the others since he had been so excited to explore but had been so worried about Roxas. Hayner didn’t mind sitting out on this one. It was easy to put on a brave face and pretend he was as strong as everyone else but even Kairi was more useful in a fight than him (no offense, but she was a girl after all – who would definitely beat the shit out of him for hearing that).

What could Hayner even do? Swing a sword and yell? Even Seifer had learnt how to use fire magic. Now Seifer was leagues ahead of him in terms of strength. In fact, everyone was ahead of him.

In the Deep Jungle, he and Seifer had unfortunately been around each other too long and some of Seifer’s ideas were still in his mind. He was always pushy about the fact that no one knew who Roxas really was or why that chakram-wielding guy seemed to be after him, or why Riku had been helping and all evil.

Who was Roxas, truly?

Looking at him now, he just looked like an ordinary guy but he was wearing the same coat as the chakram-wielder. What was up with that? And wielding two keyblades seemed unordinary. Neither Sora, Kairi, nor Riku could do such a thing. Kairi had even said she didn’t know how it was possible and couldn’t summon another if she tried.

Roxas really was a mystery but Hayner liked to think he was a good judge of character, and Roxas seemed like a good person. He just hoped he wasn’t being an idiot for trusting him.

*

Sora, weary from fighting a couple rounds of the tournament from all the Heartless, gasped when his next opponent entered the arena. He had spiky blond hair and a torn cape and a giant sword that seemed to have bandages on it. In other words: his next opponent was super cool!

“Kick his ass!” Kairi called from the stands where she and Seifer sat.

“My money’s on blondie!” Seifer yelled.

“Don’t listen to him, Sora, you can do this!”

Sora, perhaps wanting to show off, motioned for the man to attack him first. But he was prepared when the man dashed at him so quick that he got hit. “Oof!” He brushed himself off and complimented, “That was a cool attack! What was it?”

The man raised an eyebrow, probably not expecting such a chatty opponent but he did indulge him and said, “Sonic Blade.”

“Awesome! Can you teach me?”

“…We’re in the middle of battle.”

“After then!”

“Sora stop chatting to the enemy! Kick his ass!” Kairi urged.

“Oh, whoops, sorry!”

Hades watched the battle from the shadows and shook his head. It was obvious that the edgy guy in a stupid cape wasn’t going to kill the kid. But he had one more trump card up his sleeve. Normally he’d sick Cerberus on tricky customers but not this time. Today was just full of edge-lords. Who was raising them?

“Kill the kid, would ya?” he asked, putting a hand on his trump card’s shoulder. “I bet a guy like you won’t let his face fool you.”

The trump card, their face hidden by a sleek black helmet, didn’t give any indication that he had heard. But that was fine with Hades, as long as he did the job right. The amount of darkness oozing off of him pretty much marked him as being evil. A little bit of murder probably wouldn’t mean anything to him and what dark being didn’t want to kill all the light they came across?

*

Roxas awoke with a headache but other than that, he felt weirdly fine. He would have thought his body would hurt but nope, it seemed like all his energy had been restored.

“Oh good, I was hoping you’d wake up soon,” Hayner said, sitting in a chair near the bed. “I wanted to at least check out how badly Seifer is failing the tournament, unless Sora or Kairi entered into it first.”

“Tournament?” 

“Yeah!” Hayner pulled him up and was practically dragging him. “We gotta hurry or else we might miss it!”

“Ok, ok!”

By the time they arrived to the stands, Sora was just finishing his battle with Cloud. His name was printed in bold letters on the tournament leader-board and he was obviously a big deal. But it seemed that his heart wasn’t in this tournament, because he ended up giving up—surprising everyone because he had been doing so well against Sora.

“I forfeit,” he merely said before slinking off to the stands and sitting down. He looked serious and was scanning the area as if for hidden enemies.

“Oh, what! That’s unfair!” Sora complained. “I was just about to beat you for real!”

“Shh! You’re not done yet!” Kairi called, pointing to the next opponent who was walking onto the field.

Their appearance made everyone freeze up because like Riku, they wore a strange suit of what seemed to be muscle-tissue, except it wasn’t blue and was red instead. Their helmet hid their face easily and the sun gleaming on its surface made them seem alien.

A keyblade made of gears appeared in a hand and they seemed to be regarding Sora. It was hard to tell.

Roxas couldn’t look away and had a weird feeling. A certain strange familiarity that he couldn’t quite place or explain. Did he know them? But surely not…

When the match began, Sora was on his guard and kept dodging but the strange person kept closing the distance with ease and hitting Sora strongly. He was definitely going to have bruises.

It soon became very clear that Sora was no match for this person and lacked the experience. He couldn’t keep up with all the tricks and attacks and could hardly defend. Even when he seemed to get the upper hand by sending the person onto their back with air magic, they flung back onto their feet and kicked Sora in the face on the way up.

Sora, appearing frightened, walked out of area and called out, “I forfeit!” But the person wasn’t stopping and just went after him, solely focused on toying with him.

Since the rules were already broken, everyone else ran in to help, even Cloud. But the person was able to go toe to toe with all of them as well, always getting the upper hand and never hesitating. They seemed unstoppable almost and nobody could get a good hit in.

Roxas, who had been hanging back for most of the fight to try and memorise their routine of attacking, finally went in and slashed at them with both keyblades—he felt hollowness as soon as he hit them and then warmth and then a sadness of a child being abandoned…

And then he felt the arms of someone familiar and saw Ventus.

“Ack!” Roxas lurched back and stared at the stranger. “Who the hell are you?! What was that?!”

They seemed to be acknowledging him, moving their head to the side. Then they slowly pointed at Oblivion and then at Oathkeeper. Whatever that meant, Roxas had no idea.

“Say something!”

They shook their head and then sent their keyblade away before signing out letters the best they could.

V-A-N-I-T-A-S.

“Vanitas? That name sounds like…” _Like Ventus._

“Move, freak!” Seifer said, shoving past Roxas and taking the opportunely to strike Vanitas—but the strike didn’t land on him. Instead it hit a creature that had spawned in front of Vanitas with blue skin and red eyes. A strange insignia was on them that wasn’t a Nobody or Heartless one.

With Seifer distracted, Vanitas went over to Roxas and simply stood before him. He was taller, that much was clear, and had a troubling aura that was so chaotic but there was something else in it. Something that was kinder but what didn’t belong to him. How could there be another aura? Was there another heart?

Vanitas pointed to his own chest before signing more letters.

V-E-N.

“He’s with you? Within you?” Roxas asked, horrified.

Vanitas didn’t seem interested to explain more, especially with Sora, Kairi, and Hayner eyeing him with their weapons drawn. With a flick of a hand, he opened up a dark corridor and waved to Roxas before going through it.

When it closed, sorrow flooded over Roxas heavily.

What had happened to Ventus?

*

Axel sighed for the tenth time, so sick of the meeting Xemnas was holding. At least he wasn’t talking about Kingdom Hearts again but him talking about Roxas was just as tedious-sounding. Yes, Axel also wanted to get him back but he wasn’t constantly going on about it. Besides, Xemnas was never out onto the field anyway and now they had the ever gloomy Riku too—who turned out to be some man possessing him? Not even Axel was sure he could make sense of that.

“Roxas is troubled but there is no need to be concerned. We’ll have him back with us soon and can refocus our efforts on completing Kingdom Hearts. With it completed, you will all be given hearts of your own.”

It was funny but sometimes being around Roxas, Xion, and Namine had made Axel feel as if he already had one. Sometimes it had seemed as if Roxas had the biggest heart of them all and now that he was gone everything just felt bland and monotonous.

“How about you send all of us after the twerp?” Larxene asked, playing with her daggers.

“Only one competent Nobody will be necessary,” Saix said, shooting a not so subtle glance at Axel who simply whistled innocently.

He was plenty competent but Roxas’ new ‘friends’ had gotten in the way.

“Perhaps she’s right, Roxas is more difficult to catch then I think you all give him credit for,” Riku said, even if it wasn’t actually Riku. Axel would have asked for details but wasn’t sure if he wanted to know or even cared.

“If they’re sealing all the Keyholes then perhaps we can ambush them on one of the worlds. It shouldn’t be too hard,” Xaldin said. “And I have just the place in mind.”

“Oh boy, here we go,” Axel sighed.

“Brief me on the plan after the meeting,” Xemnas said. “For now we’ll focus on retrieving Roxas with minimal effort. He may get suspicious if we leave him be for too long. I’ll handpick the next members to go after him myself. Perhaps we won’t even have to go to great lengths but the struggle is proof that Roxas is getting far stronger than any of us could ever have imagined.”

A few jealous looks were exchanged and Axel rolled his eyes. It was like they didn’t know that Roxas had always been the favourite.

“Actually, Namine and I volunteer to attempt it next,” Marluxia said. “I think that you’ll find our methods to be the most effective so far. Even if we fail, Roxas will be easier to capture.”

Xemnas, intrigued, waved a hand for him to keep speaking.

“Well, Roxas always was soft on Namine, but I don’t suppose she shares the same sentiments anymore. Haha, how tragic. I’ll be a distraction for the others guarding Roxas and then I’ll send Namine to him and she’ll work a little magic.” Marluxia winked and gestured to Namine who stood on the ground, not allowed to have a seat just like Xion. Both were considered lower (which had always annoyed Axel since they deserved to be up here as much as anyone else).

Namine stepped into the middle of the room and allowed the scrutiny. “We’ll bring Roxas back, I swear it,” she said, the once timid girl barely there anymore. She sure had changed ever since Roxas had gone.

“I’ll leave it in your hands then,” Xemnas said to Marluxia.

As much as Axel wanted Roxas back, he wasn’t sure that he liked where this was going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I finish this before Christmas?? Place your bets!


	7. MEMORY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A boy struggles with his memory, and another has questionable intentions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to the heroes, Waywardriot and Kkmonkey! Their comments are giving me life and motivation! 
> 
> And oh sweet we just reached the SAD ARC. Enjoy!

_JOURNAL ENTRY XXX_

_We arrived at Agrabah yesterday and already this heat is getting to me. I prefer the cold if I’m being perfectly honest. Any burns, even sunburns, remind me too much of certain things. I hope we go to a snowy world next._

_I think everyone wants to know more about me, especially after that incident with Vanitas. Seifer keeps saying I’m connected to ‘dark shit’ and am just attracting trouble. But I’ve never even met Vanitas before! Or at least, I don’t think I have… Just what did he do to Ventus? Eat his heart? Oh, I just don’t want to think about that. Now I can’t get the image out of my head._

_I told Sora where the Keyhole might be, as I can vaguely feel what direction it is in if I’m not close. Sometimes sensing them can be difficult but I’m getting better at it (and giving Seifer more reasons to hate me)._

_We still haven’t found anyone else from the island. It makes Hayner and Seifer mad and I guess yelling at each other is their way of dealing with the fact that they’re upset._

_Sora and Kairi won’t bring up Riku anymore. They’re upset too, in their own ways. But at least they have each other._

_Signed, Roxas_

He had spent most of the day sleeping aboard the Gummi Ship, which was parked just outside one of the towns in Agrabah. It was much cooler aboard and he just didn’t feel up to searching for the Keyhole or dealing with strange genies or flying carpets. Seifer also had put up a fuss about him coming along so staying was clearly the best option.

He doodled in his journal for a time, sketching his keyblades and doing poorly at it. Why did their designs have to be so complicated?

“You always did like drawing in secret. You’d get embarrassed whenever we tried to look at your artwork,” a soft and familiar voice said.

Roxas’ heart seemed to jump out of his chest in fright when he noticed Namine standing next to the bed. How had she snuck up on him? Better question: how had she gotten here? She was rubbish at creating dark corridors and since when did she wear the Organisation coat?

“What do you want?” Roxas asked suspiciously, not letting his feelings get in the way. He had missed her and everyone else dearly but that wasn’t a part of his life now. He had new, better friends.

“To convince you to come back, Roxas,” Namine said, sitting down on the bed beside him without hesitating. “We miss you.”

“Yes, that’s what Axel said too.”

“We all miss you dearly.”

“Uh huh. Well I’m not going. Tell everyone else that. They probably won’t listen, as usual, as if everyone knows what’s best for me. Being here is what’s best for me. I like my new friends and I like saving worlds and not just collecting hearts for a lie of a dream.”

“Roxas…”

“I like Sora, he always manages to put on a smile despite everything and I like Kairi too! She reminds me of Xion. Hayner is cool too but Seifer is awful. He’s not my friend, not even close.”

“I’m sorry.”

Roxas turned to Namine, raising an eyebrow. “Huh? About what?”

“About this—”

He blinked and all he saw was white and he felt like he was floating—there was pieces pulling away and getting buried and he was losing so much and not finding any of it again—there was _just him_ —

He was…

Was…

Who was he again?

There had been a girl here but she was gone now.

There were now people crowding around him covered in cuts, all talking at once but shutting up when he asked, “I’m sorry but who are you all? And more importantly: who am I?”

There was nothing stored in his head. There was no identity, not even an age. There was just him, a boy full of nothing.

He wondered how he had gotten here in the first place.

_JOURNAL ENTRY XXX_

_Umm… The girl said I should write in this to remember things. But there is nothing to remember._

_It seems like a couple pages of this were torn out. Where did they go? I can’t find them. Maybe they would have some answers._

_I guess my name is Roxas, that’s what they all keep saying._

_We’re saving worlds? Not sure how or why. They keep trying to explain things but it hurts sometimes to listen._

_They say I can use a keyblade, two to be exact. I don’t know how to summon them? Or magic._

_I keep spacing out. Hard to think and write at the same time._

_Oh, the boy with the wide smile is here. I have to go._

_Roxas._

_JOURNAL ENTRY XXX_

_Sora wants me to stay on this ship. Fine with me. I don’t want to go to the water world anyway. It was called…_

_Umm…_

_A… Atlantic…a._

_It’s all made of water. Magic makes everyone turn into mermaids and able to breathe. It also means they don’t wear shirts? Well, Kairi wears a shell-bra thing. She’s on this ship too cause Seifer was staring and she didn’t like it._

_Sora wants to seal the Keyhole there, whatever that means. To…save the world?_

_He says I can ‘sense’ it usually. I can’t sense much of anything right now. I feel slow and stupid. How the hell do I summon this keyblade thingy?!_

_I hope the next world isn’t made of water. I think I saw a whale outside before. Is that weird?_

_Hayner hangs around me a lot. Says someone took my memories away. Stole them. He’s upset that I can’t remember him. I hope I remember too. His smile is nice and he’s usually so grumpy._

_Seifer called me some word and then Hayner punched him for it. Not ‘freak’, a different one that they said to not say. So I won’t. Am I that because I’m slow? That’s rude if so. Mean. I want to punch Seifer too but it doesn’t make Hayner feel any better when he does it._

_I wonder if they’re having fun swimming around. Getting chased by sharks…_

_Roxas._

The next world they arrived at to save was a world called Halloween Town. From the Gummi Ship the world had looked like a pumpkin head and Roxas wanted to go. Everyone wanted him to stay but Sora just couldn’t leave him so now they were walking around town together in strange outfits (magic, Roxas supposed).

Sora somehow didn’t look scary despite his pumpkin mask and dark makeup, wings and claws. But Seifer seemed even more terrified of him. It was kind of funny. Roxas’ outfit was very much the same as Sora’s with the colours reversed, so he was wearing more white than black. And instead of Sora’s bat wings he had black feathery ones.

“Keep close to me, ok? I’ll protect you,” Sora said as they walked around town among monsters and ghouls who were dancing around and seemed excited. Some Heartless danced among them which was weird but at least they could laugh at them rather than fight.

Roxas still didn’t know how to summon these ‘keyblade’ things so he was about as useful as a brick (and at least bricks could be thrown).

A talking skeleton called Jack gave them some quest to fulfil, but Roxas didn’t really listen to the details, too distracted staring at a ghost dog with a shiny red nose. Sora had to practically hold his hand so he wouldn’t wander off which really wasn’t as embarrassing as it sounded.

They ended up at a strange hill where the moon could be seen very clearly. A figure wearing a black coat stood at the top and let out a cackle. Roxas was sure his coat, which was on the Gummi Ship, was exactly like it.

“I heard what happened and ouch, Namine sure is more savage then you’d think for such a fragile girl! It’d be so sad if it wasn’t so hilarious!” the woman said, knives appearing in her hands that crackled with lightning.

“Who are you talking to?” Roxas asked, a little lost.

“You! You big idiot!”

“Oh, ok. Who’s Namine?”

“Argh, who cares? Let’s just fight already!” she exclaimed, tossing a set of knives but Sora deflected them with his keyblade, which now looked different. Apparently it changed depending on the world now and he called this one Pumpkin Head.

“Roxas, stay back and keep safe,” Sora said. “I’ll handle this!”

Like an action hero, Sora charged into battle with a yell and was soon exchanging blows with the mysterious woman. At first it had seemed like he was doing well, but then he kept getting hit with bolts of lightning and growing weary rather fast. This woman was on a whole other level and Roxas wished he could fight too.

_If I can summon the keyblade then I can help!_

He focused with all his might but it just wouldn’t appear. Did he even have the ability to summon it?

“ARGH!” A larger bolt of lightning hit Sora and shocked him so hard that he dropped his keyblade in absolute pain while the woman just laughed and laughed.

“Aw, did that hurt? Well you’re going to love this next one!”

Roxas sprinted to try and stop it, but Sora was hit again before he could get any closer. Roxas stood in front of him anyway and spread his arms out, glaring at the woman and having every intention to be a human shield if he had to.

The woman stopped and seemed amused, in her own sick way. “Oh, here’s a strange thing to see. A Nobody protecting someone like him… HA! How absolutely deranged. How delusional can you get? Do you really think he’s worth protecting or that he cares? You don’t have a heart.”

“I… What?” But surely he did! …Right?

“You’re a Nobody. We don’t have hearts but you sure as hell are good at pretending. We’re like those monsters you fight, the Heartless. We’re nothing like Sora over there. He’s your _enemy._ ” She held a hand out. “Come back to us, Roxas. You don’t belong here and you never have.”

This woman knew him and could tell him more about himself. Sora and the others didn’t know anything about him so going with her would be the only way he would ever find out who he truly is.

“R-Roxas…” Sora hissed out, his arms wrapped around himself, in obvious pain from the lightning. “Don’t listen to her! You have a heart, anyone can see it! To feel sadness or joy is proof of that!”

“Proof? Anyone can pretend to feel those things! Your so called ‘heart’ is a sham, Roxas. Come back with me and return to your home. You belong with your own kind, not with Sora who would slay you without a second thought if you ever act up.”

“I…”

A guy in some kind of muscle-tissue suit sprang up from the other side of the hill and smacked the woman with his geared keyblade, sending her flying into a patch of pumpkins. She got up and screamed in fury before shooting him with lightning bolts but he just shot back a volley of darkness and countered it.

“T-That’s Vanitas,” Sora told Roxas softly. “You didn’t really get to explain much about him, but he seems to know you. Kept signing letters to you.”

Vanitas managed to get the drop on the woman and slashed her harshly on her side causing her to cry out, black blood oozing from the wound. “Don’t forget my words!” she yelled to Roxas before retreating into some kind of gate of darkness (they had a name, right? What was the name…).

With the threat gone, Vanitas turned to Roxas and Sora. His mask made Roxas feel small and afraid but then it was taken off and a dark reflection of Sora seemed to stare back. His hair was in the same style, just black, and his eyes were a strange gold that seemed unnatural. He was paler than Sora as well, almost sickly. He was older too, his face more defined and didn’t have much baby-fat.

“You better not hurt Roxas!” Sora exclaimed. Despite his injuries he moved in front of Roxas and was wincing.

Vanitas glanced at him blankly before looking at Roxas again. He slowly signed two letters.

O-K.

A question? It would be weird if it was a statement.

“Me? I’m fine… Sora’s hurt though. Hey, you both look alike.”

Vanitas’ frown deepened, not pleased to hear that perhaps. Maybe he hated to be compared to someone so drastically different in personality.

“You’re right,” Sora said, relaxing a little and lowering his keyblade but still keeping it in his hands. “So you’re not here to hurt Roxas?”

Vanitas shook his head after a pause.

“To help?”

Vanitas made a so-and-so gesture, a very clear ‘maybe’.

“You should know that he lost his memories recently. After the Coliseum tournament.”

It was very clear that the only expressions Vanitas could make (or bothered to make) were neutral expressions. He seemed to wear a permanent frown and uncaring look.

H-O-W.

Another question.

“We don’t know. When we got back from sealing a Keyhole in Agrabah he had complete amnesia. He hardly knew his own name.”

Thoughtfully, Vanitas crossed his arms, considering it.

“Maybe that woman had something to do with it?” Sora suggested.

Vanitas shrugged.

“She knew me…” Roxas said softly. “Said I had no heart…”

Raising an eyebrow, Vanitas pointed at Roxas’ chest.

“She said it wasn’t real.”

L-I-E.

It could have been a question.

“Whatever the case, just who are you? How do you know Roxas? Why are you helping him but then going off and disappearing.”

With a mocking smile, Vanitas shrugged, choosing to not make his motives known. To be even more elusive, he opened up one of those shadow portals with every intention to just leave.

“Wait! At least tell us something else!”

Vanitas ignored him and was soon gone.

Sora huffed and stomped his feet. “What is with these darkness users and being rude?!”

Roxas didn’t know but was more focused on the woman’s words. He had no heart, huh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dunno if this will update again before Christmas?? And yikes I've really slowed down with working on this fic (but don't worry I have so many chapters prepared already, it's just that the ending isn't done yet). I still plan to upload this fully before KH3! Wish me luck!
> 
> (Super excited for the game!!!)
> 
> And oh here's the notes after I finished writing the chapter:  
> Oh wow I only started writing this fic a couple days ago (I post chapters almost once a week so you probs can’t tell) all because I wanted a fic that had Roxas as a main character, with friends! 
> 
> And cause I was sick of the fandom characterising Axel as a slimy fuckboi! He has literally never acted that way. It’s ok to veer off of canon (literally have a fic where Roxas is extremely murderous in the works) but like…Axel’s nothing like that? Lol I got so mad that a wrote a 10000+ fanfic :,D i'm so salty and petty


	8. REUNION

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A boy contemplates the affairs of not having a heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Time to thank Ima+Nonyme who reviewed last chapter! MWAH!   
> Merry Christmas y’all! For me it’s Christmas Eve! Hope y’all enjoy yet another update!   
> We are starting the climb to the climax! Strap in folks! Up we go!

The next stop was Neverland and Roxas couldn’t bring himself to write any more entries in his journal. It made him feel awful because he didn’t want to recount what the woman had told him about not having a heart. Sora and Kairi kept insisting he had one, and Hayner too. Seifer kept shooting him wary looks, probably believing that he really was a monster but kept his mouth shut after Kairi threatened to drench him.

Neverland was a blur for Roxas who just followed after the rest of the group like a dead-weight. While Sora, Kairi, Hayner and Seifer fought pirates, Roxas contemplated his own lack of heart and where his memories had gone. The woman had said that a ‘Namine’ had taken them. Why? Did Roxas do something wrong?

And this place… It felt like he might have been here before. Snatches of words ran through his mind but he couldn’t make sense of them.

_“Fly…Just trust me and believe!”_

_“…What do ya mean?”_

He shook his head. He just needed sleep. No way had he been in a place like this before.

After a few rounds of fighting Heartless on a pirate ship, Riku showed up and stood beside Captain Hook.

Sora and Kairi gasped in union, obviously not expecting him. They both looked a mix of relieved and anxious. Roxas wasn’t sure what to think, having gotten mixed descriptions of Riku and his personality.

“Good to see you both again,” Riku said with a tight-lipped smile, his attention on Sora and Kairi alone. “And I suppose the rest of you are looking for your friends,” he said to Hayner and Seifer. He didn’t even pay Roxas any attention.

“You know where they are?” Hayner asked, shocked.

“I might have an idea.”

“Show us!” Seifer exclaimed.

“Are they really that important to you? I suppose it doesn’t matter. The answer’s obvious.”

“Riku, why are you siding with the Heartless?” Sora asked.

“Siding with them? No, you have a few things wrong. They obey me, Sora. Now I have nothing to fear.”

There was a pause and then Kairi said. “What does that even mean?”

“You’re stupid!” exclaimed Sora at Riku, at breaking point. “This isn’t you! And sooner or later the darkness will swallow your heart!”

“How do you know it hasn’t already?” asked Riku with a far too wide grin before he waved his hand. Everyone’s shadows moved and then sprung to life. “The brighter your light shines, the greater your shadow becomes. Wouldn’t you agree? Now, I suppose I’ll allow you to see your pitiful friends.”

The floor underneath Sora’s group opened up and they all fell, asides from Roxas who hadn’t been close enough. He watched as it closed, blocking him from following. He blinked in bafflement before glancing at Riku.

“Is there something you want?” Roxas asked.

“I want many things but for now I suppose there is something in particular I have in mind. Larxene said there’s been a shadow user hanging around you, another keyblade wielder but of vastly superior strength. Who are they?”

“What makes you think I’ll tell you?”

“Think of it this way, I can either take you back to the Organisation now or you can tell me what I want to know. I’m sure we can reach an arrangement.”

“I have no clue what this ‘Organisation’ is. And for the record, I hardly know them. I can’t remember anything so how can I even know who they are?”

“Hmm, I suppose the reports of your memory-loss weren’t exaggerated. But even with your current state they still weren’t able to bring you back. Makes me question the competence of Nobodies and of Xemnas’ leadership skills. Regardless, I suppose I should be taking you back there.”

It seemed that Riku had misjudged the capability of Sora’s squad because they burst out of a door and there was a lot of other teenagers with them. And one seemed to be flying which Roxas couldn’t even try to make sense of. What seemed to be a pixie flew around them all and Roxas watched blankly as they fought Heartless and Riku.

Roxas felt hollow about it all. He calmly sat down and watched on the sidelines. Why was this ‘Organisation’ searching for him? Had he gotten lost from them somehow? They were so intent on looking for him, so desperate. He wanted to return to them, not be a part of this confusing mess any longer.

One of the new girls seemed to be using a skipping rope to attack while a boy kept using a beach ball, spiking it into Heartless with strangely powerful results. Roxas smiled and would have laughed, but then he remembered that if he had no heart he shouldn’t be laughing, he was just faking it, lying to himself. His smile eased away into a frown. He didn’t actually find it funny or feel anything.

He sighed and stared at the floor, ignoring the battle. Why was he still even here? He should have gone with that woman. He didn’t belong here.

_JOURNAL ENTRY XXX_

_Neverland’s Keyhole was sealed I guess. Had trouble paying attention but since everyone is happy I guess that’s what happened. This ship is so crowded now with these new people. Hate having to learn names._

_Everyone is so focused on these new people (apparently they had been missing for a time). At least no one notices when I’m gone. Would rather be left alone. Even Seifer seems happy._

_Sometimes I see fire in my dreams… Is that weird? I still don’t know who I am. Do I have a family? A home? I suppose that ‘home’ is wherever that woman went._

_…Is anyone else looking for me? Do they miss me?_

_I still can’t seem to summon these keyblades._

_Are there more of these Organisation people? I guess so. Riku seemed to be on their side but honestly I don’t know._

_I just don’t want to be here anymore. I’m not needed and I’m useless like this. Slow and stupid and weak._

_I just want to go home._

_Roxas._

Eventually a trip was made to Traverse Town. Sora wanted some guy named Cid to modify the ship to make it bigger. That meant that these people were staying. Selfishly Roxas didn’t want them to stay. He had liked it better when there was less people. It was just so loud and everyone seemed to talk at once and he felt dizzy trying to keep up and a bit overwhelmed.

In Traverse Town he ended up slipping away from the group. He wore his black coat and flipped the hood over his head, feeling a little better with his face cast in shadows. He found a secluded alley and just sat down on the ground, back against the wall.

_A heart. What does it feel like to have one? Must be nice…_

He sighed out wearily. It was like there hadn’t been any progress with finding out anything about himself. He hadn’t recovered a single memory.

Footsteps made him freeze up but he relaxed when he recognised the strange boots and skirt (was it a skirt?). Vanitas sat down next to him, hardly wasting any time. He had his helmet on and crossed his arms.

“Hey,” Roxas said.

Vanitas nodded in acknowledgement.

“I want to go back to the Organisation. I don’t remember anything.”

No reaction.

“I’m useless tagging alone with Sora’s group. I’m not needed. They have it all handled with saving the worlds and I can’t fight! I hate being here. I feel like an outsider. And now of course there’s these new people who I also can’t remember and I just feel so jealous and awful and I wish it would just stop! I’m so sick of it!”

After a moment. Vanitas held a hand out to Roxas. He looked at it in confusion but then was too curious to ignore it, so he touched his fingers to Vanitas’ palm and instantly felt a strange rush of warmth and a familiarity and there was a memory, a memory that was just out of reach but begging to be recovered—the memory of a boy with the same face but slightly older, with the same eyes and same coloured hair.

“Ventus, my brother,” Roxas breathed out, memories of only him rushing back and filling a few gaps.

Ventus, who had to practically take care of Roxas himself before he was taken away by a strange man. Ventus, who used to hang out with a rude boy with a mean laugh and black hair but not golden eyes…and yet that very same boy was sitting next to him, just a bit different. Ventus, who reunited with Roxas years later and told him to run from…something. That’s where it all grew hazy.

“You’ve known me since I was little,” Roxas gasped out, breaking contact when nothing more was being given to him. “You were Ventus’ friend and then… You were both taken away.”

Vanitas nodded stiffly.

“I was so young that I shouldn’t even remember that but…Ventus is within you. You have his heart.”

Another nod.

“Why did you take it? Is he dead? Did you kill him?”

There was a pause and then Vanitas’ hands curled into fists. He shook his head violently. No, he didn’t steal it or kill him.

“Then why is it with you?”

Instead of making letters out of his fingers again, it seemed that Vanitas thought of a new tactic and wrote them in the air with darkness, making sure they both had the same view of them so they weren’t backwards.

T-O S-A-V-E M-Y L-O-S-T H-E-A-R-T.

“Why did it need saving?”

Dark fire burned on Vanitas hands and he indicated to it.

“You were lost in the darkness and so he saved you from that?”

Nod.

“But you’re still using it. I guess not everyone who controls darkness is bad or loses to it… So can you give his heart back?”

N-O-T S-A-F-E.

“Ok, so you’re holding onto it until it’s safe, got it. One last question, since I’m sure I’m being annoying but what are you protecting him from? Why isn’t it safe?”

A slower pause and then…

X-E-H-A-N-O-R-T.

It seemed that Vanitas was done giving Roxas answers because he got to his feet, his body language tense and clearly agitated. He made one of those dark portal things and was about to step in when Roxas’ voice stopped him.

“Wait! Will I see you again?”

Vanitas nodded.

“Good, I look forward to it. Look after Ventus for me, ok?”

Nod. And then he vanished leaving Roxas alone again but feeling a lot better. At least now it was clear that although Vanitas was aloof and strange, his intentions didn’t seem so bad. And the fact that Roxas could remember that he had a brother was exciting and wonderful and he was smiling.

But then he stopped smiling.

_No heart, remember?_

“Roxas! Roxas! Oh please don’t tell me that creepy lady kidnapped you! Roxas!!!” called out Sora, his voice very audible. But he needn’t be so worried.

“Over here, Sora!”

Sora rushed into the alley and practically tackled Roxas who was stunned, not used to the affection or practically being hugged to death. “I’m so glad you’re ok! You were missing and I panicked and I was so scared! Don’t ever do that to me again! You’re so hard to keep track of and I totally freaked and I’m so sorry for letting you out of my sight! I know you accidently wander off sometimes but it’s frightening!”

Roxas didn’t have the heart (ha) to tell him that it had been intentional this time. “Yeah, sorry, guess I got a little distracted and lost.”

Sora let him go and flopped down beside him. “I looked everywhere! Even the rooftops! Then some Heartless showed up! It was a mess!”

“I can imagine.”

“But oh my gosh you shoulda seen Hayner and Seifer! They were totally searching for you even if they kept arguing and pretending that they weren’t but they’re not very subtle! Seifer can totally be awful but even he was worried. I guess having Fuu and Rai back was a good thing, or he really isn’t so bad deep down. He has goodness within him just deep down!” He laughed and Roxas smiled, not able to help it. “Hayner’s really anxious though! Olette and Pence could hardly keep him calm. They’ll be real happy to see you’re ok! If those coat people or Riku had gotten you then who knows what would have happened?!”

Roxas couldn’t reveal his intentions and now he was doubting them. “I remembered something…”

Sora gasped. “What was it?!”

“I have a brother called Ventus and I know Vanitas. They know each other. But that’s about it.”

“That’s great! What’s Ventus like?”

“He’s polite and nice and I actually was separated from him when I was little. He and Vanitas were taken by someone and I was left alone. I don’t know what happened next but later Ventus came back and told me to go on a journey and I guess that’s why I’m here? He said to run but I’m not sure what from.”

“Oh, that’s neat. At least this means progress! We should celebrate!”

“Umm, no thanks.”

“Come on!”

“Nope.”

Sora’s seemed to realise something. “Oh! I was given a letter from someone on another world who’s invited us to a ball! Their world’s Keyhole is still sealed apparently. How about it?”

“I’m not sure if I want to go. I don’t even have a suit.”

“Dude, we have a ton of munny! We’ll buy one!”

“Hmm…”

“Come on! Let loose! We can all just party and dance and act like idiots and you can see me dance! Kairi always laughs when I dance so I promise that I’ll embarrass myself just for you!”

It was hard to say no to that smile, it was infectious. Besides, he _had_ to see this dance for himself. “Alright, fine! I’ll go!”

Sora cheered and Roxas couldn’t hold back his laugh or the strange warm feeling. He had to admit that laughing felt good. Sora was generally just a good person to be around.

Maybe this ball wouldn’t be so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dunno if this will update again until after New Year’s but who knows? Still got a couple chapters ahead done and the final chapter needs a bit more work! My goal to get this done before KH3 releases seems close to being accomplished!


	9. THE BALL

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A boy dances the night away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ehehe, I’m super excited to post this one!!! It’s a fun one!!! Whether that means for me or you, you’ll have to read to find out ;)
> 
> Thank you to eternal_moonie and Kkmonkey for reviews! MWAH MWAH!

Trying on suits was awful at first, but then Kairi and Olette had taken Roxas aside and had helped him find one he actually liked. Even if he hardly knew Olette, he felt like she was a good person and was quick to relax around her. Pence, who was called in for his own suit-picking, seemed good as well. He was funny and just never had anything nasty to say.

This small group of four decided to do their hair and make-up together. Apparently Hayner didn’t want to participate saying it was a ‘girl thing’ but that was fine. Nobody wanted him to ruin it with his low-key sexism anyway (Pence had actually been the one to say something along those lines).

After everyone was fitted in their attire with masks (it was a masquerade ball), they arrived at the Beast’s Castle and were among the many other guests walking up the steps and into the castle. Roxas stuck with his chosen group and the girls kept giggling about the idea that the rest of the crew might not be able to identify them (none of the other small groups had gotten a good look at the others).

Olette had an arm linked with Pence’s and Kairi did the same to Roxas. It was nice like this and Roxas decided that this was going to be ok. He was actually excited about this event (and to spot Sora in the crowd doing a weird dance).

They were in the ballroom in no time and Pence, a total gentleman, asked Olette, “May I have this dance?”

She practically squealed (not in an annoying way, she wasn’t like Selphie) and accepted his offer. They joined the many dancing couples and Kairi was left staring after them with envy.

Deciding that there was nothing wrong with it, Roxas decided to do the same. She deserved to have a dance, especially after how nice and helpful she had been to him. “May I?”

Kairi looked surprised. “O-Oh.” Then she smiled brightly, her mask only hiding her upper face. “Of course you may!”

“Cool. Umm, you may have to lead me a little. Not sure if I can even dance.”

“Sure!”

Soon they were dancing and spinning among the other couples and Roxas found that he wasn’t actually so bad at it, as long as Kairi was leading. He actually managed to take to it really quick so perhaps he did know how to do this after all. They managed to match the beats of the music flowing from the band and soon seemed to catch a lot of attention with their rhythm.

Roxas was having the time of his life and he was sure Kairi was too.

*

Hayner watched from the upper level and glared down at all the dancers, not being able to help it. He didn’t know why he was so pissed but he was. Maybe because his two old friends had practically ditched him, or the fact that Roxas and Kairi looked so good dancing together, like the perfect couple. It was easy to tell it was them and Roxas’ outfit was way too good. Even his hair was styled far too good while Hayner felt underdressed. But then again Sora’s hair was still a mess and his blue undershirt wasn’t even tucked in. But even he managed to look good.

“Hey, chickenwuss, quit ogling Kairi.” And of course Seifer just _had_ to show up.

Hayner whirred around from where he had been leaning on the ledge to find that Seifer also looked good (as much as he hated to admit it). He wasn’t sporting his usual beanie and actually had his hair slicked back stylishly while his white suit and black undershirt seemed to actually match him. It just made Hayner more bitter.

“I wasn’t even looking at her!”

“Oh.” After a beat Seifer went on, “Roxas then?”

Hayner felt embarrassed immediately and rather defensive. “NO!”

“Uh huh. Well I can’t blame you, honestly.” Seifer walked over and leaned against the ledge next to him, looking down at Roxas who wore white and gold and was practically the star. “The freak looks great, but that’s to be expected. He always does.”

“U-Uh what the fuck did you just say?”

Seifer shot him a withering look. “What?”

“That sounded…”

“Sounded like what?” Seifer challenged, but there was a taunting smirk on his lips.

“Like you’re a…”

“A what? Go on, I’m listening.”

Hayner shook his head. He couldn’t say it. It felt like acid on his tongue.

“Heh, coward. Nothing wrong with liking how he looks.”

“But it’s weird and unnatural!” He felt awful.

This time Seifer just looked annoyed. “Since when?”

“Since forever! Everyone says so! Plus you’re totally pulling my leg and trying to piss me off! No way in hell are you like _that_ or even accepting about it.”

Seifer pointed out were Fuu was, and she was in a black strapless dress and talking to a girl. “You do know that Fuu’s a lesbian, right?”

“W-What?! No way!”

“Dude, she’s not exactly subtle. She’s literally flirting right now. Look! She’s dancing with that woman now!”

“They could just be friends!”

Seifer snorted and laughed. “You’re so stupid! I’m being serious. She’s always been out about it but you’re too thick to notice. And it’s not like everyone else you’re friends with are straight. Don’t say I said anything but I swear Sora’s in love with both Kairi and Riku. It’s just the vibe I get.”

Hayner was shell-shocked. _No way in hell was any of that true._

“Dunno why you’re having such a hard time accepting it. Unless of course you’re having some kind of crisis and in a closet. You know what? I think I’m right about that. You’re totally not straight yourself and got a thing for Roxas. I mean, why not? Just look at him.”

And Hayner did look, not able to speak up or do much else. Roxas was smiling and having so much fun and Hayner’s heart ached, and he wasn’t sure why. Or perhaps he did.

He wanted to be in Kairi’s place.

But he wasn’t gay.

He just liked Roxas as a friend. And wanted to dance with him. As friends. Platonically. _Very platonically._

“Go on, go ask him for a dance,” Seifer urged, smacking him on the back before shoving Hayner towards the staircase. “Unless if you’re afraid…”

“I’m not! It’s just weird!”

“He probably won’t think so. You’re the one making it weird.”

“Am not!” Muttering curses, Hayner stormed off and Seifer watched from the balcony as Hayner elbowed his way through the cluster of couples and went right up to Roxas and Kairi, red-faced.

Kairi laughed but let go of Roxas and soon Roxas and Hayner were dancing. It was clear that Hayner had no idea what he was doing but he was soon grinning, Roxas’ laugher seeming to put him at ease.

Seifer sighed, all on his lonesome, and simply watched. There sure were a lot of people. And oh, there was Sora! It seemed that he had found Kairi and was soon spinning her and absolutely not having the same smoothness as Roxas but enjoying himself all the same.

Well, _someone_ had to be on guard duty. Even if he wanted to have a dance himself (no one had asked him, which probably had nothing to do with his own attitude and general insulting nature, nope).

“Arghhh, this party sucks.”

*

Roxas wasn’t sure why Hayner was so nervous about dancing with him, or why his palms were so sweaty, but he enjoyed the dance all the same. Hayner kept stuttering and his face was red but perhaps he was unwell?

When the song ended, they parted ways (Hayner practically ran after a loud, ‘thank you’ and vanished) and Roxas got to watch Sora make a fool out of himself. What kind of person danced like a robot to the tune of a violin? Sora!

Roxas watched from a distance, standing at a wall and leaning against it. He was taking a momentary break to enjoy the show. He had a hand to his lips, trying to stifle his laughter but not able to help himself. Sora was such a goof sometimes.

A guy in black wearing a stylish golden beak-mask sauntered over and held a black-gloved hand out to Roxas. “May I have this dance?” he asked, smiling. His eyes seemed to twinkle.

Roxas nodded dumbly before taking his hand. “Of course.”

They made their way over to a free space before the guy asked, “May I lead?”

“Sure.”

Soon they were dancing along to the flowing music of a piano and weaving around other couples. The guy was rather good at dancing, never messing up his footwork and Roxas was pleased. 

“So, where are you from?” Roxas asked.

“Hmm, far away. I’m not from this world.”

“Oh, me neither! How did you get here? Do you have a Gummi Ship?”

The stranger laughed and shook his head, red spiky hair swaying. “No, nothing like that. I have my ways.”

“Huh, so you’re a mysterious type of guy. Got it.”

“You could say that.”

They continued dancing even until the song ended and a new one played. The next one sounded unlike the others. The others hadn’t involved guitars and looking at the stage, it was actually a sitar being played by a guy in blue.

“Not fond of this music?” the guy dancing with Roxas asked, grabbing his attention back.

“I don’t think so…” And yet it was oddly nostalgic to hear.

“That’s fine, it isn’t for everyone.”

“Hmm…” He realised he hadn’t introduced himself and felt a little guilty. “Oh, I’m Roxas by the way!”

The guy’s lips quirked and he chuckled. “Ha, that’s a weird coincidence. I know a Roxas…”

Roxas gasped. “Really? What’s he like?”

“Stubborn. Very stubborn. In fact he’s a total rebel really and causes a lot of drama. He’s a bit difficult to keep track of and keeps going missing.”

“He sounds awful,” Roxas said bluntly.

“No, I’d never call him that. He’s awful to deal with sometimes and causes trouble more often than not but he’s got his head on straight and can do so much more than ordinary people if he focuses. That stubbornness comes in handy but usually it leads to upsetting a lot of people.” There was a fondness to his words and a sadness. Bittersweet, Roxas supposed would be the best word to describe it.

“Well hopefully you find him soon.”

“Hmm, I hope so too.” The guy leaned in close and whispered softly near Roxas’ ear, “In fact, I think I’ve found him.”

Roxas, startled and frazzled, tore away from the guy and took a few steps back. The guy was grinning, showing off pearly whites and his eyes were narrowed. The room seemed to quieten as if it was just them here.

“Who are you?!” Roxas demanded shakily.

“Oh, come on Roxas! Surely you didn’t forget your best friend? I guess Namine’s power is no joke. She really messed with your head.”

“Namine? The one that took my memories?”

“Yup, the very same. If you ask me I don’t think it was necessary but without that you probably wouldn’t be here right now. You might not have come here but it’s too late now.”

The music abruptly stopped and there was gasps around the room and frightened cries for a few of the attendees had a variety of weapons out, with some holding them to the necks of Roxas’ friends.

“No!” He held a hand out but knew there was nothing he could do. Everyone holding a weapon was staring directly at him and his stomach did a flip and he felt a shiver run down his spine. This entire event had just been a ploy, hadn’t it?

“Are you with the Organisation?” Roxas asked, frightened for his friends.

The guy nodded. “Yup. It’s a pain that you don’t even remember me let alone everyone else but I guess it isn’t so bad. You can’t summon your keyblades after all.”

Chakrams were summoned into the guy’s hands and he spun them around, flames blazing at the tips. “The name’s Axel, got it memorised? Since you seemed to have forgotten it. Honestly, it’s enough to make a guy cry—if I had a heart, that is.”

Roxas backed away further, not sure what he could do. If he couldn’t fight then he couldn’t protect his friends but if he went with these people, his friends could still get hurt. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t even run with all these Organisation members among the crowd, all watching him and waiting for his first move.

The room was getting too small, the edges of his vision were clouding and he was starting to have trouble breathing.

_What should I do?_

He frantically searched the crowd and his eyes landed on that of golden and of which belonged to a guy with black hair. For a moment those eyes seemed to turn blue and calmness flooded through Roxas and a soothing voice, “Your power can be dangerous in the wrong hands but your friends are your power. They give you strength and you’re strong not because of the keyblades but because you have something to protect. The fact that you have two means something, Roxas. You may have forgotten your past but you haven’t forgotten what’s truly important and what it is to be a keyblade wielder of pure light.”

Roxas blinked as Vanitas and Ventus seemed to stand before him, their hands clasped together and looking like a perfect match, despite their obvious differences in every aspect. But what was truly remarkable was that their auras were darkness and light, neither fighting and both at peace with each other.

Roxas had found (or remembered) why he could use two keyblades in the first place: Oblivion and Oathkeeper represented what he held truly important. His brother, and Vanitas whom was never far from his brother and who had always been somewhat of a guardian to Roxas, always shrouded in shadow. He had glimpses of Vanitas’ memories, and in them it showed him subtly helping Roxas during dangerous Organisation missions but always staying away, never letting Roxas see him.

The truth was, Ventus and Vanitas had always had their destinies and hearts intertwined with his. And that was his true power.

There was a flash of light and then Roxas was back in the room facing off against Axel who said nothing about him spacing out. He did raise an eyebrow.

“I wanted to go back to the Organisation, you know,” Roxas said, his nerves firm and no longer afraid. “But now that my friends are involved…I feel more like giving you all a challenge.”

“Ah, there he is, always as stubborn as ever,” Axel snarked, but he was grinning in anticipation. “Sure, I’ll take you on. But don’t expect me to play fair.”

Before Roxas could make sense of that, a couple other Organisation members bolted over to him with their weapons raised and with the addition of Axel his nerves were startled back into fear but he dug deep and reacted, grasping onto the strength residing within him—the strength of his friends, of the hearts and lives intertwined with his. He now had something to fight for and he wasn’t going to lose it so easily.

A shockwave of light burst out of his form and knocked back the attackers, giving him room to breathe and ample time to summon his keyblades. He swung them around in his hands, regaining his knowledge of how to fight almost instantly and liking the weight. Perhaps it was just his memory but the keyblades seemed different now even if not in appearance.

He slammed them into the next attacker, the one who had a sitar, who yelled but was cut off with a groan when Roxas kicked him into a wall with no mercy. Roxas sprung to the next, the woman with the knives from Halloween Town who didn’t get a chance to throw them before she was hit too and smacked into the ground harshly. It was almost like he was hearing taunting words in his head, telling him to be as brutal as possible but now the words were calmer and less aggressive, urging him to help free his friends.

Soon the voices were driving him around almost and he was simply moving, fulfilling their requests with swift efficiency while he was stunned at the fact that he had never been so quick, as if there was wind pushing him. Is this what it felt like to be Sora? Perhaps.

With everyone freed and fleeing to safety, Roxas ended up facing Axel once again. His friends had their weapons drawn now and were fighting off Dusks that had decided to show up while trying to keep away from the Organisation members.

“All right, Roxas!” Axel asked, clapping, not at all concerned with Roxas’ display of unusual strength. “Do you remember anything yet?”

“No, and I don’t think I want to!” Roxas exclaimed, taking a step forward. “If this Organisation was so great then how come I got separated from them? And how come one of the member’s took my memories? It’s so obvious that I ran away! So why would I ever want to come back?! You all suck at convincing me and even threatened my friends!”

Axel frowned. “They’re not your real friends, Roxas. You hardly know them. And you got a little confused is all. Maybe you running away was a phase or a tantrum but you have to come back now. We _need_ you. The boss _needs_ you.”

“Needs me for what, exactly?”

A new voice spoke up that was so deep that it was easy to feel intimidated and inferior from just hearing it. “To fulfil your role and aid us to complete Kingdom Hearts. Once complete, you and all of the other Organisation members will have hearts of their own. We can collect hearts with our own means but you, Roxas, are the most efficient and the most special of all our number. Nothing can match the power of a keyblade.”

Roxas turned and saw a man not dressed for the party and merely in an Organisation coat with dark skin, white hair, and golden eyes so much like Vanitas’ that there had to be a connection. His mere presence felt like needles pricking his skin and his confidence dropped. This person was on a whole other level of power compared to the other Organisation members.

“It is most unfortunate that we must meet again on such problematic terms but once again I must introduce myself. I am Xemnas, leader of Organisation XIII. I came here personally to ask for you to return.” There was something about him that just screamed for obedience and to never be crossed. Something that made Roxas feel so small and insignificant.

“But I…”

“You have aided in collecting hearts more than anyone else among our number. You were so determined to fulfil your destiny and to form Kingdom Hearts by yourself if you had to if it meant that certain acquaintances of yours could get their hearts back. Axel is among those acquaintances. Even if you don’t remember it, it’s the truth.”

Roxas looked back to Axel who had his gaze fixed away from Roxas. “So he was my best friend?”

“Friends are not what people like us can have but if you prefer the term then use it as you wish. As much as you fool others and try to fool yourself, you don’t have a heart. You belong with us, Roxas. Help us and we will all have hearts once again. We will be whole and this meaningless conflict can be forgotten.”

Roxas was at a loss for words, it all making so much sense. All his doubts were coming back to haunt him once again. What was he doing pretending to be a somebody? He was mimicking their behaviour all along.

“I…will go back with you. But only me. You can’t hurt my friends or take any of them. It can only be me.”

Xemnas nodded, hardly having to think it over. “Of course. We only need you after all.”

A corridor of darkness formed, and Roxas was starting to find familiarity with these things. He had never been great with them, had he?

“Roxas! No! Don’t trust them!” Sora exclaimed, held back by having to fight a guy with a scythe.

Roxas ignored him and followed Xemnas into the corridor, Axel trailing after them.

Roxas had made his decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh! Was anyone expecting that? I wanted more conflict so here we are! We’re actually close to the climax and this chapter was something I looked forward to! And now we begin the final arc! Ahaha!


	10. THE LIGHT AND SHADOWS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys experience the tugging of destiny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Kkmonkey for reviewing last chapter! AHEM! And without further ado, I present to you a VanVen/VenVan section! And now a couple things can be clarified!

Ventus could never remember what his parents were like or if he had any other family asides from Roxas. All he could remember was an orphanage and a mean-spirited boy who everyone called a witch. ‘He can create monsters!’ they said, ‘he’s dangerous!’. Ventus just thought that boy was very rude.

Despite their differences and general inability to ever get along, they often sat near each other. The other boy, Vanitas, often drew ghastly drawings of monsters and kept showing them to Ventus and Roxas (who was a mere baby at the time, who Ventus didn’t trust any adult to care of). Ventus would always toss the drawings aside and scold him for scaring Roxas but Roxas didn’t seem to even care, not able to process what scribbles on paper meant.

Ventus didn’t believe the rumours until a day arrived where the adults tried to take Roxas away from Ventus, saying a mere child couldn’t take care of a baby. Ventus screamed and kicked and fought and begged them not to take him away, pleading and screaming because if Roxas went with them he would probably never see him again.

And then a monster, an actual monster, appeared out of thin air and attacked the adults while Vanitas had appeared from behind a corner and led Ventus and Roxas away, barking with laughter all the while.

They escaped to the streets and more monsters kept appearing, attacking the adults that tried to follow and even if Ventus had been scared he had allowed Vanitas to lead him, because Vanitas, as awful as he could be, hadn’t wanted Roxas to be taken away. Vanitas could be impulsive and an enigma and changed moods so quick that it could be jarring—but at least he had never tried to separate Ventus from Roxas.

They ended up at the next town and went to the orphanage there, with nowhere else to go. The people there were kinder for the most part but perhaps were nice because of the looks Vanitas gave them whenever they said or did something harsh. Everyone was afraid of the boy who could summon demons, which was no surprise.

Ventus never asked him about his uncanny power and grew more and more sure that Vanitas would never harm him or Roxas. Somehow, in his own strange and confusing way, Vanitas held a certain fondness for them.

Time passed and the instances of monsters appearing only got worse. Vanitas didn’t get any nicer but he did start opening up more and actually talking to Ventus rather than insulting him. He even smiled and laughed sometimes and not in his usual mean way.

Ventus ended up accidently summoning his keyblade for the first time when they were hanging out. All he did was flick his wrist and it appeared and an adult saw this and ran back inside. Vanitas mimicked him and was able to summon his own after a few tries. Both of them could hardly hold up the weight and exchanged grins.

“So cool!” Ventus said.

“Yeah, you said it.”

Roxas had stared at them before babbling baby talk and reaching out to try and take one of the keyblades and they had both laughed.

“Maybe one day you’ll get one of your own,” Ventus said.

“Yeah, one like mine!” Vanitas said, staring at the gears on it with interest.

“Eww, hope not.”

Only a week later, a bald-headed man and a group of men in black hooded coats arrived and took Ventus and Vanitas away, leaving Roxas behind. Both tried to fight back but their efforts were fruitless and Vanitas got knocked out, disabling him from summoning any monsters.

Whatever had become of Roxas, Ventus only found out years later. He could never have known that Roxas would be taken in by a group full of Nobodies and become their puppet. He could never have known that the one who had taken them away, Xehanort, would be directly tied with the Organisation and had his hooks in just about every aspect of their lives and destinies.

He could never have known that Roxas would go through so much on his own and be lost within the weight of it all.

Ventus and Vanitas, unwilling at first, became pupils of Xehanort. He pushed them to their limits and was never truly kind to them. When he did seem kind, it was because he was trying to pit them against each other and manipulate them into vying for his attention and praise. And being so young and impressionable, it was easy to fall into the trap.

Vanitas became so twisted and called a monster so often that he even believed it. But Ventus, even when he was being twisted in his own way, could never call him that. Because Vanitas wasn’t a monster, he could simply create beings called Unversed from his own negative emotions. He wasn’t automatically an awful person for having that ability.

At night, when it was just the two of them, Ventus whispered reassurances to Vanitas.

“You’re not what he keeps saying you are. Don’t let anyone make you feel like you’re inhuman or a monster,” Ventus whispered one night, getting out of his bed and slipping under the covers of Vanitas’. They were only thirteen and found comfort in being close, even if they never actually touched as Vanitas had issues with contact (perhaps in secret, Xehanort was even harsher on him than he was with Ventus, since there was often bruises on him as if he had been struck).

“…” Vanitas hardly ever replied but Ventus knew he was listening.

The years passed and they were both only put through more hardships. Vanitas’ eyes became golden and he could make a dark suit of muscle-tissue appear on his body. He once mentioned quietly to Ventus that it felt like armour and made him feel safer and more secure.

Xehanort made them fight often, punishing the loser and praising the winner. Vanitas had an edge due to his Unversed but sometimes it seemed like he threw matches to give Ventus a break.

And then after a particularly awful fight, Xehanort demanded that Vanitas strike Ventus lethally despite the match being over with Ventus on the ground on his back, gasping for breath. Vanitas held the bladed gear-edge of his keyblade over Ventus’ neck but sent it away. “There’s no point,” Vanitas had said simply. “The loser’s already been decided, just as it always has.”

“Are you questioning me, boy? Do it at once!”

“No,” Vanitas said, glowering and with a few Unversed appearing behind him, his emotions at an all-time high.

“I said to punish him!”

“And I said no! There’s no fucking point! He’s down and that’s the end of it! What the hell is your problem?”

It seemed like Vanitas’ blatant disrespect for his Master had gone too far because the next second, Xehanort held a hand out and seemed to yank a glowing orb from Vanitas’ neck despite being a distance away. The orb vanished and Vanitas’ eyes widened and then he made a strange wheezy noise.

His lips formed words. But no sounds came out.

His voice was gone.

Simply gone. Just like that.

Sometimes Ventus thought Vanitas blamed him for it and even now perhaps there was still a part of him that suspected it. Because if Ventus had been stronger back then, he would have won the fight and Vanitas wouldn’t have talked back in the first place.

Vanitas losing his voice seemed to make him more obedient and it was so clear that Ventus couldn’t help but cry when he was alone. Vanitas stopped sharing a room with Ventus and they became distant and Vanitas refused to try and communicate. But Ventus grew good at reading his body language to work out what he wanted to say—nothing good.

Even now, as Ventus’ heart rested within Vanitas’ body, Vanitas still couldn’t speak. But here Ventus could hear his heart and the sadness and anger it contained. The distress of his whenever his Master demanded something of him like right now.

Along with the other Organisation members, they all retreated from the Beast’s Castle and into The World That Never Was. Vanitas watched from a distance as Roxas was led away, his posture tense but not resisting.

Through Vanitas eyes, Ventus watched as Vanitas headed to the darkness and retrieved Ventus’ shell of a body. He then took it to the Organisation’s castle and rested it on a chair in the round room. Just another vessel for Xehanort to possess.

Perhaps there was still hope. Roxas’ friend Sora had a Princess of Heart on his side and a couple other fighters. The battle wasn’t over yet, even if it felt like all had been lost. As long as there was still light in peoples’ hearts then there was always hope.

*

Sora’s group were all worn and exhausted from the ball and sat together, all slumped in defeat on the Gummi Ship. None of them had been able to stand much of a fight against the Organisation and had failed to save Roxas.

“If he wanted to go then why should we care?” Seifer asked bitterly, nursing his wounded jaw with an icepack.

“Yeah, he obviously thought those shady guys were better than us. Who needs him?” Hayner added, glaring at the ground. Olette put an arm around him, trying to comfort him.

“They kept saying weird things to him though!” Sora said. “We know he has no memory and they could have confused him. Besides, they kept saying he had no heart but he _does._ I know he does, even if the rest of them don’t!”

“He’s right, Roxas wasn’t acting out emotions. He has one. Maybe he didn’t used to have one but now he does. This universe works in mysterious ways,” said Kairi in agreement. “And if it’s true that they were responsible for taking his memory then what kind of friends are they? Besides, you heard what it sounded like. He _ran away_ from them. That’s how he ended up on our island!”

Seifer and Hayner looked ready to argue, their hurt over Roxas’ actions all too clear despite neither wanting to admit it, but shut their mouths when a little blue creature with red eyes suddenly appeared. Its body was narrow and it had antenna that looked a little like lightning-bolts.

Sora summoned his keyblade but was surprised to find it carrying a rolled-up letter which it passed directly to him. He stared at it before unrolling the letter.

“’Greetings Sora and co, I’m afraid that I cannot introduce myself personally and must keep this brief in order to retain secrecy. My name is Ventus and I’m the older brother of Roxas. Perhaps he’s told you about me, or perhaps not. The point of the matter is that the Organisation must be stopped and you cannot allow Roxas to become their puppet,’” Sora read aloud, “I must inform you that among them are members that wish to betray them. You need all the help you can get but remember not to trust them. They all wish for Kingdom Hearts’ completion and power but might be willing to team-up to accomplish the common goal of bringing down the Organisation. Vanitas can be trusted, but he is unable to aid you against Xemnas. Save my brother, stop Xemnas, and please don’t lose hope.’”

There was another page to this letter which Sora read as well, “’You hold a great power, Sora. Never lose it or the connections you hold with other people. But I guess you don’t need me to tell you that, huh? And Kairi, which you may not know due to not having a Master, is a Princess of Heart. Her power may just be the key to winning this war—if she can master it. That is all I can say for the moment. Sincerely, Ven.’”

The crew all looked at each other, exchanging shocked looks while the little creature seemed to stare at Sora expectantly.

“Uhh, is there something you wanted?” Sora asked.

More staring.

“Thank you?” Kairi chimed in.

It bounced on the spot before vanishing just like that, satisfied.

“Woah, you’re some kind of princess?” Tidus asked, flabbergasted.

Kairi blushed, embarrassed that now everyone was staring at her. “I guess so? I’m not sure how to use my power over light very well though so I’m not sure how good I’ll be…”

Sora took her hands in his and grinned broadly. “That’s so cool! Don’t worry, I’ll help you try and figure it out as well! I haven’t mastered my air powers yet or am an expert with the keyblade like Roxas seemed to be, but if we keep trying then we’ll both be badasses in no time!”

Kairi’s blush darkened and she looked happier. “O-Ok! We’ll work it out, together!”

Seifer groaned. “Can you stop being all sappy and gross for one second and focus? What’s the plan? And what about the rest of us?”

“Well we need people to make sure the other worlds stay safe,” Sora said, his logic seeming to satisfy everyone. “Once Kairi and I find out where Roxas is, we’ll go there alone or with any traitors. In the mean time you guys have to make sure things stay safe! The Heartless probably won’t stop appearing until we fix this.”

“Hmm, well as long as I’m the leader of the home team then I don’t have an issue with it,” Seifer said.

“No way! You’d suck at being the leader!” Hayner argued.

“Yeah, boo!” chimed in Selphie.

“Actually I think you’d make a great leader, Seifer,” Kairi said. She smiled at him and he looked away, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Duh…”

“Then it’s settled! But we really should all get training! Those Organisation guys are no pushovers! I guess training at the Coliseum should be our next goal.” Sora was far too enthusiastic about the idea of returning but it made sense.

All they could do was get better and try and master the skills they had.

*

Roxas was seated on the bed and held his knees close to his body, finding comfort in it. He was back with the Organisation and in a cell so he ‘wouldn’t wander off again’. He understood why they didn’t trust him and didn’t hate them for it but he was a bit lonely and was starting to miss his friends. He wasn’t able to feel regret, but he was sure that he was experiencing the phantom of it. Whatever it was, it was awful and felt tight in his chest.

“They won’t miss me,” he told himself softly.

“…Roxas?”

Roxas sprang up from the bed and ran over to the door, peaking out through the bars on the little window but no one was in the hall.

“Xion?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” Her voice was from the cell next to his, so he couldn’t hope to see her even if he tried to look from an angle. “I was wondering who was locked up next to me. I’m glad that it’s you.”

Roxas smiled. “Yeah, I’m glad too.”

“I’m guessing that you didn’t return voluntary?”

“No, I did. After some drama of course. Axel said I always started it but well, I lost my memory of pretty much everything. Hold on…” It dawned on him that he shouldn’t remember Xion but he did, very clearly. “How come I can remember you?”

“I’m guessing that Namine used her power on you. And I guess because…it doesn’t really work with me. You can remember me because I’m talking to you and now you have your memories back of me. She once told me that she could never bring herself to use it on me. She told me that I’m someone who should never be forgotten by anyone… The Organisation once tried to experiment with her power on me but she couldn’t do it.” There was a certain tone to Xion’s voice that Roxas hadn’t heard before. It was…affection perhaps? Something sweet and fond. “I’m like her and can use the kind of magic that isn’t common. I can mirror people, but only for short periods of time. I used to hate my power, because the Organisation always forced me to try and mirror you but Namine told me it was unique and not something to hate.”

“Xion…”

“I think we have hearts, Roxas, because this feeling I feel when I’m with her is so strong. And the feelings I get when I’m around you and Axel. Maybe the rest of the Organisation don’t have them, Axel either, but I just know that you, me, and Namine must have them. We’re not Nobodies: we’re _human._ We were never a shell of someone else.”

Roxas just couldn’t believe her. How could he? He had no heart! He was a liar! But hearing Xion’s words made him a little doubtful.

“It’s funny but I think Axel really didn’t have a heart, at first. But then the two of you got close and then we formed our group and I think we all helped him form one. Maybe I’m just being stupid but perhaps it’s possible to regain a heart…and you in particular helped him regain his, or at least a sliver of it.”

It was awkward to hear because Roxas still didn’t have any memories of Axel.

“Axel was upset when you left, even if he likes to act as if he doesn’t feel anything. He was more agitated and angry than usual. He’s usually lazy but he actually fought with effort put into it on missions, as if he was trying to vent out his anger but never being able to get it out.”

“Well he didn’t seem too mad when we fought earlier.”

“Yeah, because he’s such a good actor. And it’s not like he was mad at you exactly. More like he was mad that you left and that he couldn’t go with you or understand why you wanted to leave. Forming Kingdom Hearts is the goal we’ve all been working so hard to complete, so of course when you turned away from that we were all shocked. But after you left, I started to question things…” She sighed sadly. “I looked through some files I wasn’t meant to and got caught by Saix. That’s why I’m here. And I really think that not everybody here is a Nobody. They manipulated us to think that, to kill our emotions. They used us and lied and I just know that we shouldn’t complete Kingdom Hearts.”

“I guess you’re right…” He went back over to the bed. “I wonder what’s going to happen to us. I only just returned and turning our backs on the Organisation probably won’t end well.”

“All we can really do is wait.”

“But we can’t just do nothing.”

“We can, because I’m not the only one whose been having doubts. A couple others seem pretty sick of being here and following orders. But enough about that. Tell me about what’s happened since you’ve been gone.”

“I can’t remember much, but I made some new friends…”

“Neat! Tell me all about them!”

“Well, so there’s this one guy called Sora…”

*

Axel didn’t go visit Roxas at the cells. In fact, he had been given direct orders not to. Since Saix had been the one giving them to him, he doubted that Xemnas had anything to do with it. Saix always had been petty and confusing and just wouldn’t stop being a huge source of irritation.

Regardless of that, he probably wouldn’t have visited Roxas anyway. Xion was also down there which made things awkward, but it was mainly Roxas he didn’t really want to see. It was different before because he had been trying to get Roxas back safely, but right now he couldn’t help but feel miserable. It was funny because he had no heart. He probably just remembered misery. It’s not like his life before this had been great during the end of it.

He kept hearing mutterings and sneaky glances being cast around among the other members. None were at him so it was really noticeable. They were conspiring, keeping secrets, on the verge of trying to overthrow others. He had no reason to get involved.

Namine had been out of sorts ever since she had taken Roxas’ memories and Axel didn’t like being around her, even if she seemed so down. He couldn’t really forgive her, even if it wasn’t all her fault. She had still been the one to go through with it.

Axel stayed in his room mostly. He liked to sleep in his free time, not having any hobbies that didn’t involve hanging out with his…friends. Ha, ‘friend’ was such a funny word. They threw it around as if they could even experience true friendship or…love.

He covered his face with his pillow and sighed deeply. Things had been easier before Roxas had shown up. Xion and Namine had been here before him, but as ‘lesser’ members didn’t really go out on missions or interact with others much. Axel had been mostly hanging out with Saix and doing missions with some effort, when he felt like it. And then Roxas had arrived like a breath of fresh air and it had all changed from there.

Roxas seemed to gain personality within a week and eventually somehow managed to bring Axel, Xion, and Namine together. He was the key to their group and even now, it still felt that way. It wasn’t the same without him and even if Axel was ok with hanging out with Xion and Namine, Roxas was his best friend. He supposed it was better to say ‘favourite person’ because of course friendship wasn’t something they could feel.

_But if this isn’t friendship, then it’s probably pretty close to it._

Who would Axel be right now if not for Roxas? Would he still be robotically carrying out missions and never questioning anything? Because Roxas had been right to feel suspicious and maybe even in a way, he had been right to leave. But the fact remained that he belonged here or…maybe even Axel knew that was nonsense. Because Roxas really was special. In fact, this place could be the most dangerous place to be right now with so much unease among the other members.

Axel just wasn’t sure what to do and wondered why he even _had_ to do something.

*

As Riku—no, _Ansem_ —discussed with Xemnas plans about how to gain Kingdom Hearts’ power, Vanitas watched from the sidelines almost boredly. As Xehanort’s apprentice he was allowed to be here, especially as he directly served him. None of them knew that Ventus, a light so bright, was always beside Vanitas wherever he went now. His lifeless shell of a body was seated next to Xemnas’ chair and they wished to change it into whatever they pleased. That was fine with Ventus, since it only meant they thought he was gone for good and not at all a threat.

Ventus was connected to Vanitas’ thoughts and they were constantly talking to each other. Vanitas was as chatty as he used to be and even more snarky, but much less cruel and holding a kindness in some of his words. Ventus never would have thought that Vanitas even did have a soft side but here it was.

They both watched without much fear as Ventus’ shell of a body was filled with darkness and then moved on its own, just another part of Xehanort. The body talked but clearly had no true soul or heart of its own. It was nothing like Vanitas (Ventus kept reassuring him so).

Xemnas discussed the idea of Roxas being next and Vanitas’ hands clenched up. But they couldn’t directly interfere or risk revealing Ventus’ presence and their shared desire to turn traitor as soon as the chance arose.

 _Roxas is pure of heart,_ Ventus thought to Vanitas. _Even if they try to fill him with darkness, his heart is far too strong. Even if it works, his heart won’t disappear. He’ll linger, just as I did._

_But I had been there when your heart left your body. He won’t have anyone._

_He has friends, which counts for something. No matter how far they are, as long as they keep each other in their hearts then the distance doesn’t matter. I’m confident in this._

Ventus could feel Vanitas’ doubt, but then he could feel a sly cunningness that he loved so much.

 _We could rig the vessel,_ Vanitas thought. _If Roxas is as strong as you say, how about something a bit risky that they won’t expect of him? If he doesn’t resist, his heart won’t be damaged and he’ll be free to go wherever his heart wishes to be. Well what if we could use that?_

Once, Ventus wouldn’t have trusted Vanitas but these days he knew him far too well. _If you can get a message to Roxas, then I think this plan will work. But we just need to make sure he has somewhere to go._

_Hmm, I think I know a certain obnoxious boy._

_Aww, still upset that Sora thinks you two look alike?_

_…Shut up._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you’ve been enjoying this so far because we have reached the final arc/act/whatever! This fic is a lot shorter than people might have thought but I hope that the content will satisfy you as this fic was an experiment (and because I got so heated about the treatment of Axel in this fandom—absolutely hate when he’s reduced to a fuck boiiiiii like wtf, you can’t just ignore what makes Axel, Axel). Haha, so you have some of my petty bitterness over characterisation to thank!
> 
> Stay tuned, because I’ve got some plans for the battle yet to come!


	11. PLANS IN MOTION

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A boy loses something, and another gains what he lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to thank reviewers from last chapter! Erockbaby3000 is first! Thank ya so much! Kkmonkey too I guess except that you leave nearly the same exact comment every time? Not sure why, buddy! Vary it up a little man! 
> 
> And without further ado! We're getting close to the end!

The day had arrived where Roxas would be somewhat ‘executed’ for a lack of a better word. It was a public execution amongst the Organisation so, on a platform outside with a clear view of Kingdom Hearts, and with the other members watching, Ansem, now looking nothing like Riku and looking like his ‘true self’, held a strange-looking keyblade in his hands.

Roxas, not even allowed to be in his black coat, wore plain clothes and kept his face neutral as he was led to Ansem by Xemnas. Of course they had to make this all showy and dramatic because with Xemnas everything was _oh so dramatic._

Roxas glanced at the crowd for perhaps the last time, and was glad to see Xion and Namine. Xion had been allowed out of her cell and she looked so upset, even if she tried to hide it. Namine was comforting her with a hand but obviously wanted to embrace her or do something more.

And then Roxas locked eyes with Axel, and he couldn’t breathe, because he could _remember Axel_ now of all times. Namine, perhaps as a parting gift, had given him his memories back even if it probably went against Xemnas’ orders.

“Axel…” he said quietly, barely saying it at all.

Axel, who had no heart, was doing a great job of seeming to have one because he seemed distraught and his eyes themselves seemed to dim with it all. For no heart, he was doing a good job at seeming like he was about to cry.

But Roxas did cry, as if for the both of them. He cried but didn’t let his true sadness show, and merely made himself appear as angry as he felt when he turned to Ansem and Xemnas.

“Any last words, Number XIII?” Xemnas asked.

“Sure, if you really have to draw this out just to make an example of me,” he shot back before addressing the crowd. “I’m here today not because I ran, but because I’m just another shell to them—just like every single one of you. They don’t care about you! Kingdom Hearts isn’t—”

But he was cut off, as he knew he would be, by a keyblade piercing his chest and freeing his heart from his body. He could even see his body crumple to the floor, seeming dead with blank eyes and parted lips.

He could see the other members and the distrust on so many of their faces. He could see Vanitas with his arms crossed and could even see a glimpse of Ventus, who seemed like a spirit always standing next to Vanitas. He could see Xion and Namine, hugging and trying to give each other comfort that was so far out of reach.

And then there was Axel. Amongst the shock of Roxas’ abrupt death, no one else noticed a single tear that slid down Axel’s cheek. Perhaps he didn’t even notice it, but Roxas did. He didn’t know what to think but knew that right now the plan had begun.

He had to find Sora and then this would all come to an end. If they were lucky the Organisation would tear itself apart from within. But Roxas had never been so lucky. He found that forging his own path and destiny was the only answer.

*

Sora had been waiting for this day, and he had never known when it would arrive. Waking up feeling someone else within him was not how he thought this would go. Vanitas and Ventus hadn’t explained this part in the letters they had been giving him.

He grasped his chest and breathed deeply but found that the pain of it eased after a moment, as if Roxas had been making himself comfortable and fit without causing a disruption with his own heart.

“Roxas?” He hadn’t even needed to ask, he could feel it.

_Yes. They executed me._

“O-Oh…” Sora hadn’t known about that part either.

_It’s ok, I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. I was ready._

“But that doesn’t make it any less awful.”

_Sure but it’s better than not having known._

“I guess…”

_Riku’s gone. A man named Ansem is in his place._

There was just so much to take in all at once and Sora didn’t realise he had been hyperventilating until Kairi entered the room and was calming him down, saying soft words and hugging him close.

Once he had regained composure, Roxas continued.

_The Organisation are probably ready to try and overthrow Xemnas. I guess I managed to spark it and now it’s up to them how they’ll handle it. But we have to go there soon—I know the way. Kingdom Hearts is almost complete and we can’t let anyone have it. That’s very important._

“R-Right…”

_Let me control your body so I can speak to Kairi._

Kairi smiled shyly. “Actually, I can hear you loud and clear. I guess because of my powers and because of also being connected to Sora’s heart.”

_…That’s great! It makes explaining so much easier! So, Vanitas and Ventus have this plan but it really relies on you both being able to handle a fight or two with darkness wielders. Think you’re up for it?_

Sora and Kairi grinned at each other. “Oh, we’re definitely ready,” Sora said. “We may have picked up a few tricks.”

“We did get some help along the way. And we actually think Seifer and Hayner should come along.”

_What? Seriously? But they’re not…_

“Actually, Hayner has a keyblade now! I think Sora accidently helped him get one. It was really weird.”

“I’m a Keyblade Master!” Sora bragged.

_Sure, sure. But no, they should stay. We don’t know for sure if Ansem will stay in The World That Never Was or try and infect more worlds with darkness. We can’t allow it._

“Man, they’re both going to be so upset,” said Sora.

“If they can keep their eyes off each other for one second,” Kairi complained.

_…I don’t think I even want to know. I wasn’t even gone that long and suddenly everyone is different!_

“But Roxas, you’re really different from what you seemed like too. We didn’t know that until before you got kidnapped! You’re so much cooler than I thought was possible!” complimented Sora. “Like those moves you were pulling against the Organisation members while you were duel-wielding? So cool!”

If Roxas did have a body, he would have been blushing in embarrassment. _I’m really sorry for not telling you guys the truth about what I am and where I ran from._

“It’s ok, we get it. Telling a bunch of strangers about being a secret agent would be difficult on anyone,” Kairi reassured. “It’s just sad that the truth was revealed in such a messy way. But regardless of that, you’re still our friend. We wouldn’t have ever hated you for being a part of a shady group because even good people can get lost sometimes. Plus you ran from that, which means something.”

_Thanks, you guys. You’re both really good friends._

“The best of friends?” Sora asked.

_Yeah, I suppose—_

But there was someone else even closer than that.

_I have a lot of best friends now. But the best of my best friends will always have to be…Axel._

Sora could feel the complicated emotions Roxas felt about him.

“He’s important to you,” Sora said easily.

_But I’m probably not to him and he has no heart so it doesn’t even matter what I think or feel._

Kairi, always so sweet, shook her head and said, “But isn’t it true that you thought you had no heart? Axel might have more of one than you think. In fact, what if they all have hearts and all fell for a couple lies to begin with? It sounds like something Xemnas would do.”

Roxas was quiet, so stubborn about his idea of Axel lacking the heart to care, but also knowing that Kairi and Sora seemed to understand hearts better than anyone. And it was true that Roxas so clearly had a heart, as well as Xion and Namine. Did Nobodies even truly exist or were they just fabricated off-colour versions of Heartless?

_Whatever the case, what’s done is done. He will stand against you and I don’t want you to go easy on him because he won’t hold back. Kingdom Hearts is the goal and whatever we feel or want doesn’t matter in comparison to that. We don’t have time for feelings or regrets._

“Roxas…”

_Sora, it’s kind of you and Kairi to care so much but my mind is made up. We need to get this plan in gear right now._

It was a sore subject for Roxas, that was all too clear, so Sora and Kairi relented and gave in. Sora just hoped he actually wouldn’t have to fight Axel, with the knowledge that Roxas would be watching through his eyes as Sora fought his best friend.

It would be the worst torture imaginable.

*

It had been some time since Roxas’ heart had been extracted from his body, leaving behind a shell. But to Axel, it only felt like it was yesterday.

The shells of Roxas and his brother, Ventus, roamed the halls of the castle like freakish zombies. They hardly spoke and had no personality, they merely existed and were waiting for this ‘Xehanort’ guy to show up. Xemnas and Ansem kept holding private meetings that not even Saix was allowed to attend, much to his disdain. Sometimes Xigbar was allowed to go and wouldn’t breathe a word about whatever was discussed.

Axel didn’t want to be a part of their plans. Every time he saw the shell of Roxas with those strange yellow eyes he was only reminded of the fact that Roxas tried to warn them all of something. Something about Kingdom Hearts. He would have asked Xion, but she and Namine mostly locked themselves in one of their rooms and he felt oddly guilty for not stepping in and saving Roxas.

But the thing is, Roxas had a heart. They had all seen it leave his body. He wasn’t a Nobody. And so what did that mean for everyone else? He wasn’t the only one questioning this. Marluxia, Larxene, Vexen, and Zexion were all conspiring to overthrow the Organisation completely. Aside from them, the others were all still loyal, even the cowardly Demyx.

Axel didn’t know what side he was on. Saix was still loyal, but clearly second-guessing himself and since they used to be close it was hard to turn away from him. But was loyalty worth losing everything over? Perhaps they would all become puppets like Roxas.

He heard some commotion outside and went out to find Marluxia blocking Xaldin’s six lances with his scythe while Larxene, Zexion, and Vexen, all watched from the sidelines with their weapons drawn.

“You are all committing treason by turning your back on the cause!” Xaldin exclaimed.

“The cause is B-S!” shot back Larxene, rolling her eyes. “It turns out we have hearts, even if parts of ones. Turns out that blondie had the right idea all along!”

“Hearts? Are you honestly all so foolish to believe this blasphemy? From a traitorous snake no less.”

“When Roxas ran, we all should have looked into why he left in further detail. He had the right idea,” Zexion said.

Vexen pointed at Kingdom Hearts and glared. “ _That_ is nothing but lost hearts. Why must we complete it to recover the parts of ours we lost? It makes sense to free them from Kingdom Hearts, not trap them and ready them to become a power source. We were foolish to believe in Xemnas or this Organisation in the first place! Besides, it is possible to recover one’s heart. Perhaps we should have paid closer attention to Roxas and his group. While we were making fun of their so-called ‘imitation’ of having hearts, they were regaining what was lost.”

Axel, with mixed feelings, was quick to leave the scene before he was spotted. Now it all made sense and he didn’t know what to do. If he turned traitor he would betray Saix and could be killed but he couldn’t just stay. He couldn’t kill other traitors when he believed in their words.

He quickly returned to his room and wrote a rushed letter, before slipping it under Saix’ door. A couple Dusks and higher Nobodies were rushing about as the castle seemed to shake with shockwaves in the distance of battles taking place.

He summoned his chakrams into his hands and continued forward, ready to face whatever was to come and dreading the outcome.

The least he could do was avenge Roxas.

He headed to the room that the Organisation often held meetings in and found his targets sitting on their high chairs like the false kings they were. Without any hesitation he rushed at them with flames flaring around him.

Even if he lost himself, lost his body, it would never be enough to repent for what he had done in the past. It wouldn’t bring Roxas back, but perhaps, even if a little, he could do this to get Roxas to forgive him in the afterlife (if there even was one to begin with).

*

When the flames finally died down, Xemnas was left holding a hand to his face as blood gushed from a nasty cut Axel had given him with a chakram. He had underestimated him.

Ansem stood over Axel, downed and unconscious and barely alive. Ansem grinned and put a hand on top of Axel’s forehead. “I’m in need of another puppet. I think that you’d make a fine one indeed. Now, how would you like to give our guests a warm welcome?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How many chapters to go? Hmm... It could be 1 or 2 or a dozen! Whatever the number, this fic will be complete before KH3! If it's not then Xehanort can nort me!


	12. CONNECTIONS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Destiny awaits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! Basically this is Part 1 of the climax! Yeah, I know, this fic seems so short but I hope the drama and fights are worth it!

Sora and Kairi arrived at The World That Never Was feeling apprehensive, but ready nonetheless. The location they arrived at was full of buildings and skyscrapers and lots of neon. It was dark and there was a light drizzle of rain.

 _Be careful of the Heartless here. They’re aggressive because of Kingdom Hearts being so close,_ Roxas warned them.

They looked up at the cloud-ridden sky to find a large glowing heart-shape that looked ominous, replacing the moon.

“So, _that_ is what everyone is fighting over?” Sora asked, his expression serious.

_Yes, just that. We can’t let anyone use its power. It is almost complete and they could probably reshape our entire universe with that kind of energy. All the Heartless you destroy release hearts which all go there. I…am probably the one who gave it the most hearts._

“We’ll free the hearts,” said Kairi, “and put an end to whoever is behind this.”

_Xemnas, Ansem, and a guy named Xehanort. Xemnas is strong and I guess the other two are as well, not even counting whoever is siding with them. Can we really handle something like this?_

“We can. As long as we stick together and be brave, we’ll beat whatever comes our way,” said Sora confidently.

_Let’s hope you’re right._

Roxas was quiet as Sora and Kairi made their way through the city, stopping when a great castle was in sight that floated close to Kingdom Hearts. Being the Organisation’s base, it was hard to keep on a brave face. From the outside it looked so foreboding with its mass of strange white structures. It was almost beautiful.

“How do we even get up there?” Kairi asked. “I can’t use air magic like Sora.”

“I could carry you,” suggested Sora shyly.

“But what if we get shot down?”

They had used the Gummi Ship to get here with Roxas’ coordinates but hadn’t been able to get the ship very close to the city without getting shot at.

_I…might be able to create a corridor but I have my limits as I am right now. It could be dangerous._

“We trust you,” Sora said.

_I know, but…_

“Well, well, well, look who decided to crash the party. Sorry but you guys never got an invite. I’m afraid I’ll have to kick you out.”

Sora and Kairi turned around to find Axel walking over to them, chakrams drawn and wearing a sickening grin that just didn’t seem to be normal. His eyes were golden and appeared glassy and peculiar.

“You’re Roxas’ best friend,” Sora said warily.

“Nobodies don’t have friends. You’d better remember that,” Axel replied before tossing his chakrams at both Sora and Kairi, laughing when they were blocked by their keyblades. “It’s my lucky day! I suspect that Xemnas would want you two for his collection and who am I to let him down?”

“Xemnas is tricking you! Roxas told us!” Kairi said.

“Roxas is dead and I don’t care. I _can’t_ care, remember? No heart, no soul, no nothing of anything. I am nothing and I don’t exist.”

_That isn’t him! Sora, let me take over for a bit._

Sora nodded and relaxed, allowing it. Roxas took control easily and stumbled a little, feeling odd in a different body and being able to breathe again. He managed to summon Oathkeeper and Oblivion into his hands and glared at Axel.

“What did they do to you?” Roxas asked, and even if it was Sora’s voice the way he spoke was a bit different.

Axel frowned darkly. “They fixed me. Don’t you see? All of us are just empty vessels for Xehanort and soon he’ll have Kingdom Hearts and everything will be changed by his will.”

“You’re not some vessel, Axel, you’re your own person,” said Kairi.

“Talking to you two is giving me a headache so how about we fight already and get to the part where you get scorched and then handed over to Xehanort?” Axel asked before shooting a flurry of fireballs at them.

Roxas battered them all back on his own, his two keyblades working in synchronisation. When the coast was clear, he dashed forward and rushed at Axel and thought to Sora _, I’m going to try something, so get ready to fight when I eject._

_‘Eject’?_

Roxas didn’t give him a response before he forced his own heart out of Sora’s body and into Axel’s, tapping their hearts.

*

It was dark and cold and empty in this place. Flames flickered at the edges but didn’t provide any real warmth, not anymore.

How long had Axel been here? Merely drifting and not in control? He must be dead. This was the fate of a Nobody. It was stupid to try and take on Xemnas and Ansem alone but it had seemed so right at the time.

His sorrow and his suffering and loss all kept him company. Losing Roxas had been the worst pain of all.

“I’m so sorry,” Axel murmured to the barren emptiness.

“I knew I’d find you here. You always did enjoy slacking off, huh? Some things never change.”

Axel turned from where he had merely been drifting and gasped to find Roxas in the flesh floating not far from him, light glowing around him. Warmth was returning and Roxas was smiling at him.

“I didn’t mean to but I saw a glimpse of some of your memories and felt your feelings,” Roxas said, looking away. “I think I understand you better now. I also understand that your heart is nearly fully healed. I guess the theory about us Nobodies recovering what we lost is true, under the right circumstances. It’s clear that you’re a better person now than you ever were.”

“I did some awful things, nothing can make up for that,” Axel said.

“You can try and I’ve already forgiven you. You missed me and thought you were doing what was best for me and what would keep me safe and I respect that. You care so much for your friends and me especially. I care about you too, Axel. I care enough to subject myself to the threat of the darkness controlling you to damage my heart and I care enough to free you.”

If it was dangerous here and if Axel’s body had already been lost then he didn’t want Roxas in here trapped with him. “Do you care enough to escape by yourself if I tell you to? I don’t think…we can both get out of here in one piece,” Axel said softly.

“How do you know? You haven’t even tried.”

“But…”

Roxas moved closer and grabbed Axel’s hands in his own, his warmth taking away the chill. “My friend, Sora, thinks that the power of friendship can beat back any kind of darkness. I’m starting to think that he’s right. Besides, I think we have something a tier above mopey-dopey friendship.”

Axel’s brow furrowed in confusion. “And what’s that?”

With a wink and then a cheesy smile, Roxas simply said one simple word, “ _Love._ ”

Bright light enveloped them both until there was nothing more.

And then Axel woke up, finding himself laying on cold concrete and feeling like he had been run over by a train. “Roxas?!” He sprang to his feet and looked around frantically but only saw Sora and Kairi, looking a little burnt and tired but not seriously injured.

“I have no clue what just happened but I’m glad it worked!” Sora said, flopping onto the ground now that they weren’t practically fighting for their lives. “You seriously don’t hold back, huh?”

Axel raised an eyebrow and looked around, spotting embers and flames that were dying down. He didn’t remember doing that and didn’t remember even leaving the castle. He could only remember Roxas and placed a palm over his heart.

“What happened?”

“You were controlled by someone. ‘Xehanort’, I think his name was,” Kairi explained politely. “You had creepy yellow eyes and wouldn’t stop attacking us—until you passed out all of the sudden. Roxas, whose heart had been within Sora, probably connected with yours. You have him to thank.”

“Roxas…” He could feel a presence within him. “I guess you’re in for a wild ride. Seems like we’re going to have to take this fight to the men in charge themselves. Are you all in?”

Sora and Kairi looked shocked. “A team up?!” Sora asked, his eyes wide and his grin so broad and warm.

“I guess so. What, think I’m just going to hang back here while you two take ‘em all on? You have got to be kidding. Besides, Roxas’ body is up there and his brother’s. We can probably bring them back. Roxas said something about the ‘power of friendship’ and all that junk. Seems like it’s worked out well for everyone so far.”

“TEAM UP! WOO-HOO!”

Kairi sighed and shook her head at Sora. She walked over to Axel and they both watched Sora yell at the sky and about how they were going to kick butt. “It’s nice to meet you, Axel,” she said. “This probably isn’t the best way to meet someone. Roxas told us a little about you. I can’t say I completely trust you because of your past actions but I do trust in Roxas and in his judgement.”

Axel nodded and smiled softly. “That’s fair. Honestly I’m surprised he even bothered to help me at all. Hard to know what he’ll do next or what he feels. He used to be so stubborn but always a mystery too. And now… Now I just don’t know what to think about him. I’m still getting over the fact that I do have a heart, even if not a full one. Makes me wonder about certain things I was sure I wasn’t feeling.”

“Hmm, doesn’t seem to be the best time to figure that all out.”

“Nah, it doesn’t, does it? But I guess it doesn’t matter. What matters is bringing Roxas and his brother back and taking down all those jokers in that castle who lied to everyone.”

Sora put his hand out. “So let’s promise to win this fight!”

Kairi rolled her eyes but in an affectionate way before putting her hand on top of his. Two pairs of eyes turned on Axel who was looking away as if pretending not to know them.

“Come on, you know you wanna!” Kairi urged.

“Argh, I can’t believe Roxas made such lame friends.” He ended up putting his hand on top of Kairi’s despite his words. “Happy?”

“Yep!”

“Woo! TEAM UP! Let’s go Team Friendship!”

“We are not calling ourselves that. I was literally fighting you guys a couple minutes ago. We’re not even friends!”

“But you’re Roxas’ best friend and we’re his friends so you’re our friend too!” Sora said, as if it was all very logical.

“That’s not how it works.”

“WOO! TEAM FRIENDSHIP!”

“I’m starting to regret this arrangement already.” And yet Axel couldn’t help but smile. He didn’t know if it was Roxas’ heart or his own but he was experiencing a nice warm feeling. For once in his life, he felt good and not because of something awful he did. Was it ok to feel so happy and carefree if he hadn’t done anything to earn it?

Maybe one day he’d earn it.

“How are we going to get up to the castle?” Sora wondered.

Axel gestured with his hand and opened up a dark corridor, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh! Well that’s convenient. Is it safe?”

“For people like me it isn’t. That’s why we wear these coats so that the darkness doesn’t consume us. For someone with a heart full of light you guys have nothing to worry about,” Axel explained easily.

The trio entered the dark corridor together and Axel led the way, never stopping to look at the strangeness of this pathway. Sora and Kairi were quick to follow him, despite their curiosity. They didn’t want to get left behind, even if there was little chance that he would do that to them.

The dark corridor opened up on the other side into a white room that was extremely bare. There was a bed, a table, and an envelope on top of it. Nothing more than that.

Axel didn’t stop in here either and was out the door and out into the hallway. He led the duo through so many winding hallways that Sora and Kairi couldn’t mentally memorise the layout. There was a lot of distant noise in different directions of the castle and cracks in walls, floors, and even roofs. There was scorch marks and puddles of water and even a few discarded rose petals.

“We have to get to the very top of this castle,” Axel said. “That’s where Roxas’ body should be, and the ones we have to dispose of. If we’re lucky we won’t get caught in anyone else’s battles.”

“Riku should be there too. We can’t hurt him,” Sora said firmly. “If he’s possessed we’ll get through to him.”

Axel didn’t stop walking and really didn’t seem to care either way what happened to Riku. “Your friend isn’t really my problem but sure, I won’t attack him if I don’t have to. I’m more focused on taking out Xemnas and whoever Xehanort is.”

On the way to their ascent upwards, they almost ran into a pair of Organisation members duelling it out. They barely managed to get around them unseen.

“Give up Lexaeus, you’re fighting on the wrong side,” said a guy with a stylish side-fringe. He was holding a lexicon.

“Zexion… I’m sorry but I think it’s you who has strayed from the righteous path,” a guy with big muscles holding an axe-sword replied.

The trio didn’t stick around to watch the clash but could hear the struggle behind them. Soon the sounds were distant clanging of metal and yells. If all this in-fighting continued then they could make it to the top unchallenged.

But of course when it seemed as if the path was too easy, a man with blue hair and an ‘X’ on his face stood in their way. He held a claymore in his hands and it seemed as if he had been expecting Axel.

“I’m not surprised that you decided to turn traitor,” he said.

“Saix, get out of the way. I told you in that letter the truth. How can you not see that we were betrayed by Xemnas?” Axel asked, summoning his chakrams to his hands and making sure Sora and Kairi kept behind him.

“Because unlike you I know how to be loyal. Whatever he decides to do, he does it for the Organisation. Without him we would still be on the streets and swallowed whole by the darkness. We _owe_ him.”

Axel shook his head but didn’t give up on getting through to Saix. “We don’t owe him a single damn thing! We would have been fine on our own. The fact that we were walking around after losing our hearts is proof of that. We’ve always been strong without the Organisation. Why do you act as if we’re weak without it? Roxas was stronger than all of us and did fine by himself.”

“It’s always about Roxas with you!” Saix exclaimed bitterly, suddenly taken over by rage. He took a heavy swing at Axel but missed. “Roxas this, Roxas that! You never shut up about him or those other fake friends of yours!” Saix spat between swings, never managing to hit Axel who was far too agile. “We were friends before we lost our hearts. Does that mean nothing to you?!”

“Of course it does,” Axel said carefully. “But I can have more than one friend. Besides, what do you care about friendship if you really have no heart? Why are you getting so worked up if you can’t feel anger or pain? You have a part of a heart, just like me. We don’t need Xemnas to get ours restored. We don’t even need Kingdom Hearts.”

“You don’t know that for sure!”

“I do. Right now I’m feeling guilty for ditching you for my other friends but also annoyed because you always brushed me off after we lost our hearts. If you valued our friendship then you should have acted like it, but it isn’t too late to do that now. Come with us, Saix. We’ll get our hearts back and our lives back for good. I don’t want to fight you.”

Somehow, Axel’s genuine words got through to Saix because he stopped attacking. He looked up at the sky and at Kingdom Hearts, considering it for a time before turning back to Axel. “I suppose your insanity has a point in it. If this does backfire then I’m blaming you.”

Axel laughed. “You always did blame me for everything. Remember when we had science class in primary school? You always blamed me for messing up but it was usually actually you, though I did accidently set fire to our desk that one time.”

There was the smallest upwards quirk of Saix’s lips. “’Accidently’, you say, as if you weren’t obsessed with fire back then too.”

“Hey, I’m not obsessed! It’s just rather flattering, don’t you think? Matches my personality.”

“Yes, perfectly matches you being a bumbling hot-headed idiot.”

“Hey! You really need to work on compliments.”

“Perhaps I’ll look into it if we don’t die due to your stupidity.” Saix looked over to Sora and Kairi who had kept still and quiet throughout the entire encounter, fearing getting caught in it. “I suppose we may have a chance with two of the keyblade’s chosen ones. They don’t look like much.”

“We have Roxas too! Well, I’m holding onto his heart until I can give it back. You always said he didn’t look very impressive either but he sure as hell proved you wrong. Didn’t he duel you that one time and beat you really easily?”

“I have no memory of that.”

Axel’s eyes flickered blue and Roxas’ voice said, “Funny, because I can remember it quite well!” Then Axel’s eyes turned back to normal and he looked just as freaked out as Saix.

“He really is within you,” Saix stated, appearing not to know what else to say about that.

“Yeah, had no idea he could do that. Anyway, we should get moving. We wouldn’t want to keep Xemnas waiting, would we? He always hated whenever any of us were late.”

“So true,” Saix replied, a faint smile on his lips.

“Huh, you know, this team-up reminds me of when we were kids. You always told me how stupid my ideas were but you always ended up going along with them. I always had a feeling that you were an even worse troublemaker than me deep down,” Axel said.

“I was nothing of the sort,” Saix denied.

Sora and Kairi laughed, doubting his claims but they quietened when he shot them a glare. There wasn’t much intensity in the glare though, and they both didn’t try to hide their amusement.

“Let’s kick ass!” Sora exclaimed.

“Vengeance!” cheered Kairi.

“For what?” asked Axel. “Pretty sure Xemnas and his gang didn’t do anything to you.”

Kairi shook her head. “Vengeance for Roxas! He messed with my friend so I’m gonna mess up him!”

Everyone stared at her, baffled.

“Geez, Kairi, all that training made you brutal,” Sora said but with a laugh.

“I’m gonna slap him with a couple waves! Team Friendship, let’s go!”

Axel sighed, defeated. “Oh man, so we really are sticking with that awful name then?”

“I’m regretting my betrayal every second,” Saix complained.

With that, they continued their climb upwards, the top of the castle in sight. Morale was high but all of them knew that victory was still so far out of reach—for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda like Saix! Especially after replaying KH BBS! So, lol, I guess he’s a part of the crew now? 
> 
> We are almost at the end! The next chapter is full of a lot of junk so get ready!


	13. BATTLE IN TWILIGHT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conclusion draws near, and the final battle concludes. The curtains fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we reach the Final Battle! I sure do hope you enjoy! There’s a lot of content in store! It didn’t go as close to my plan as I would have liked but I think y’all will like it anyway! Had fun writing it!  
> And aha I edited this while suffering from a cold sooooo hopefully it’s all grammatically fine! There’s plot-holes galore in this fic but aha I don’t much care at this point. Let’s pretend everything makes sense!

Vanitas watched as Xemnas and Ansem conspired some more. The bodies of Roxas and Ventus stood near them, acting as protective sentinels. Roxas was in an Organisation coat while Ventus was armoured, though his head was exposed. They both had their keyblades out, ever ready to smite down any foes or traitors.

The heart of Ventus, residing within Vanitas, was practically buzzing with excitement.

 _Roxas is close!_ Ventus said. _I can feel his heart!_

 _Calm down,_ Vanitas mentally shot back. _I don’t want your eagerness to cause trouble for us, idiot. Xemnas and Ansem can’t seem to detect your heart because of your light but we don’t know if it works forever. We’re lucky that we haven’t been exposed yet._

“Vanitas, your Master offers his thanks for serving him,” Xemnas said, catching his attention. “And he wants you to know that he’ll be arriving very shortly.”

 _What does that mean?_ Vanitas asked Ventus. _He’s dead! Well, his body is. He’s the one possessing Xemnas, if I’m not mistaken._

_Yes, it’s a guy named Terra who he ended up possessing who also created that Ansem guy—which is all a big mess that I don’t even want to think about. But…_

“I suppose you must be curious,” Ansem said, no traces of Riku on him to the point that Vanitas could hardly sense Riku’s heart. “But he has many tricks—or I suppose, _we_ do. One such trick being able to twist time and space itself to appear in more than one place. And he has been keen to travel here to be with us for some time, now that Kingdom Hearts is close to completion and with the forging of the X-Blade so near. You and Ventus’ body will forge it by fighting.”

 _The X-Blade? Is that why he always forced us to fight in the past?_ Ventus asked.

_Yeah, apparently someone of light and darkness can forge it. It always sounded like a crock of shit to me. We never got close. Apparently because we were too weak or something. Who cares? I’m not going to forge it for him or accidently break your body. I’d rather not keep carrying you around and doing all the work._

_Oh shush, I’m hardly a weight to you!_ complained Ventus.

_Yeah, yeah. Just make sure to take that body back and not the wrong one. I don’t want to deal with you and Roxas switching bodies._

“Kingdom Hearts, it’s so close to completion,” Xemnas said, practically serenading it, raising his arms up to the sky.

“Well, it’s too bad you won’t be around to see it.”

Vanitas smiled underneath his mask as they all turned to see Sora, Kairi, Axel, and Saix at the steps of the pillar they were on. Finally, things were going to get interesting.

“Guards of darkness, kill them,” Ansem commanded, flicking a few fingers, sending the bodies of Roxas and Ventus to attack the group.

The body of Roxas leapt at Axel who simply smiled and did nothing to stop him, for a light sprang out of his chest and into the body. Roxas’ body dropped to the ground in a heap, while Ventus’ body was exchanging blows with Sora, clashing their keyblades together and blasting each other with aero magic.

“A princess of heart,” Ansem said, looking at Kairi with interest.

“Riku… You’re using his body!” Kairi exclaimed, outraged. “I can see his heart and it’s faint but I won’t let it fade!” She blasted Ansem with waves of water and he dodged most of them, wearing a feral grin.

Saix was trying to bash Xemnas with his claymore and Vanitas calmly weaved through the onslaught, which was far too much for this small area, and made his way to where Sora and Ventus’ body were.

 _Take it back,_ he commanded to Ventus.

_Gotcha!_

But before Ventus’ heart could leave, everyone was suddenly warped into a huge white area that seemed to have no beginning or end. The battles continued to rage on despite this, but at a greater scale, and Ventus’ heart shot out of Vanitas (who felt warmth leaving him) and returned to his body, dropping it to the floor much like Roxas’.

Vanitas quickly moved over to Sora who raised his keyblade instinctively, clearly not trusting him, but didn’t attack him.

D-E-S-T-R-O-Y K-H

Vanitas had written his instructions quickly, and once Sora nodded, he made the dark letters fade so they wouldn’t be seen by anyone else. He reached out a hand and clasped it around Sora’s neck who gasped. He had to make sure it looked like he was still loyal, and maybe he was enjoying this a little. He absolutely couldn’t stand that they looked alike and really didn’t want to question that (oh God, what if they were cousins—nope, no! Never ever!).

“Sora!” Kairi cried out in fear, also doubting Vanitas but she was busy shooting blizzard magic at Ansem.

Vanitas let go of Sora’s neck then grabbed him and chucked him, sending him through a corridor of darkness he had quickly created, which would send Sora close to Kingdom Hearts. It was up to him to think of how to break it.

He turned back to inspect the fights and was surprised to see that Kairi was actually doing something competent, as she was shooting light out of her keyblade into Ansem’s chest who was screaming, his form flaking off of Riku’s body in pieces. Perhaps princesses of heart weren’t just damsels in distress after all. This was new.

He looked over to where Axel was, who was watching over Roxas’ and Ventus’ bodies. It was like he was guarding them, making sure they wouldn’t get accidently swept up into the battle.

Meanwhile Saix was faring well against Xemnas, though it seemed like he was growing exhausted. Saix slipped up by missing Xemnas with his claymore, giving Xemnas the chance to blast him with red lasers and shooting him backwards and far away.

“Of all of the Organisation I never suspected you would be a traitor,” Xemnas said. “I am disappointed in you, who had seemed like the perfect vessel for Xehanort.”

“I am no one’s mere vessel,” Saix spat, getting up to his feet. “I would rather be turned into a Dusk.”

“Then perish, like all the rest will,” Xemnas said.

But then there was a far off cry, “Sonic Blade!” Before there was an explosion.

With wide eyes, Xemnas looked to the corridor of darkness Vanitas had left open. “No, no!” He rushed into it and Vanitas slipped in after him. They arrived back out onto a pillar and were just in time to witness Sora cutting through the middle of Kingdom Hearts, wielding an immensely strong keyblade.

Kingdom Hearts remained still for a moment, but then it cracked and broke apart, bleeding out hearts that rained down unto the city below. Some of these hearts started to drift up, all trying to find their way home.

 _Good job, Sora,_ Vanitas couldn’t help but think.

“You!” Xemnas exclaimed, staring at Sora who was floating in the air via aero magic and who looked rather proud of himself. “Death will feel like a relief when I’m finished with you!”

“Bring it on!” Sora cheered.

 _Well this is definitely getting to his head,_ Vanitas thought with a frown. _But he’s not my problem._

He returned back through the corridor of darkness and went over to stand near Ventus’ body. Axel gave him a suspicious look but made no move to attack him.

_You better wake up, Ventus. I swear, if we messed up then it’s all your fault and I’ll never forgive you. Fight through this and wake up!_

*

He was walking, but couldn’t see it. In fact, he couldn’t see anything. Maybe he wasn’t walking at all and couldn’t tell down from up, or up from down. But he could feel something, like a thread of string in the darkness. He followed it, or was sure he was.

Roxas wasn’t afraid, nor was he happy. He wasn’t feeling much of anything. Not right now at least.

The thread led him downwards, and soon he was falling. There was a shock of light below, lighting up a circular stage with himself on it along with a couple circles containing images of his friends. Axel, Xion, Namine, Hayner, Kairi, and Sora were in each circle.

When his feet touched it he was filled with warmth and held a hand to his chest. “Is this…my heart?”

He got no answer, but knew the truth all the same. His heart wasn’t missing, broken, or fractured. It was complete and right where it was meant to be. He was whole.

His keyblades appeared in his hands. “Right, I need to get back up and fight to protect my friends. Lend me your strength.”

Light filled the area and soon he awake in the real world where he found Axel, Xion, and Namine sitting close to him.

They were back on top of the castle at The World That Never Was and Roxas could feel the roar of air magic and light tingling in the air.

“What happened since I was out?” he asked, looking to Axel before sending a curious glance to Xion and Namine who were holding hands.

“Kairi somehow banished Ansem,” Axel said. “After that we were sent back here.”

“Namine and I found you guys here after we won our fight against a horde of Nobodies,” Xion said. “I’m so glad you’re safe, Roxas.”

Namine looked away, frowning.

“It’s ok,” Roxas told her. “I forgive you for taking my memories.”

She gasped and cast her eyes back to him. “But what I did was…”

“Wrong, yeah, but that’s in the past. You can make it up to me by paying for all our ice-cream for the next month, ok?”

“…Alright.”

Axel whistled. “Wow, you forgive her just like that?”

Roxas nodded and poked him the ribs. “I’ve forgiven you too. You also owe us all ice-cream.”

“Huh? No way!”

“Yes so!”

“Nope!”

Xion and Namine laughed, shaking their heads at the boys’ bickering.

But then Roxas realised who was missing. “Wait, where’s Ventus? And Vanitas? And Sora?”

Axel pointed to the sky. “Seems like Sora’s got his work cut out for him. He’s fighting some kind of strange white dragon that looks like a castle. I never expected much out of him but seems like he’s doing fine.”

Roxas quickly looked out in the distance, confirming that yes, Sora was indeed fighting a massive dragon with a powerful keyblade: the Ultima Weapon. He kept using Sonic Blade to zip around and through the dragon, doing massive damage and breaking off pieces of it.

“Geez, he got strong way too quick,” Roxas said, shaking his head. “But where’s my brother and Vanitas?”

“Dunno,” Axel replied. “Saix ran off to try and recruit some more folks for our gang. Chances are he’s gonna get into a lot more fights and end up scaring everyone off. He thinks that Xemnas won’t die so easily and that this Xehanort guy might show up. And who knows where Kairi and Riku ended up? Today’s just been one big mess.”

“I think you should go help Sora,” Xion said. “Namine and I want to help Saix. I think we can convince people to ally with us better than he can.”

Axel groaned. “Argh, that sounds like too much work.”

“Hey, I’m game,” Roxas said with a shrug. “It’s time for some payback, for removing my heart.”

“Well, when you put it like that…how can I say no? Yeah, let’s dethrone Xemnas once and for all.”

*

Fear, there was just intense fear filling his entire body. So much fear that he was sure that his Unversed were spawning in different worlds without him meaning to put them there.

Because here was Xehanort, in the flesh, like a ghoul from a waking nightmare. After everyone else had gone after Ansem’s vanquishing by Kairi, Vanitas and the unconscious body of Ventus had been left behind. A dark corridor had appeared after that, one distorted and seemingly bent by time and space itself.

Xehanort stretched a hand out to him saying, “It has been a long time, Vanitas. I can exist in many places at once, as I’m sure you’re aware.” Vanitas couldn’t help but take a step back, faltering. “But my was I surprised to find that Ansem has been defeated by a princess of heart no less, and that the Kingdom Hearts in this world has been broken by some weak boy. All on your watch.”

Vanitas took another step back, and Xehanort took a step forward. Even if he were to have his voice back, he probably wouldn’t have been able to say anything. This man had tortured him, had broken his bones countless times, had punched and kicked him, had punished him so severely for every little mistake that Vanitas couldn’t help but feel as if he always had to be on edge around him—that he was always seconds away from getting hurt. And the pain never went away, never ended.

“But there’s no need to fear, for Kingdom Hearts will always exist. With the X-Blade, we can open our way to it here and now. Ventus may have fallen, but I sense light still within him.” Xehanort raised a hand up and Ventus, like a puppet having its strings tugged, got to his feet.

Ventus’ eyes slowly opened to reveal emotionless gold, a mirror to Vanitas’ own.

“And now you shall both serve your purposes, and forge it. Forge the X-Blade for your Master!”

Ventus, like a zombie, lumbered over to Vanitas, always seeming on the verge of falling over. He summoned his keyblade and lazily swung at Vanitas who leapt back.

“Why do you seem to fear this weak-willed boy? Fight him!”

Vanitas wouldn’t attack Ventus, despite Xehanort’s barking commands. Even when Ventus’ movements got more precise and powerful, even when Ventus’ attacks started to hurt, and even when Vanitas was flung towards Xehanort, kicking the fear in his heart into overdrive.

Soon Vanitas was on his back, trying to push back Ventus’ keyblade that was close to slicing into him. Xehanort loomed over him and leered at Vanitas. “Maybe you were the weak one all along, not Ventus. I should have chosen someone else—not a monster that can hardly control their own emotions. If you do not fight, then this is where your pathetic life ends, by Ventus’ hands.”

“Funny, because I think you’ll find that this is where _your_ pathetic life ends instead,” Ventus said, his eyes suddenly flickering to blue. Swiftly, he sprang at Xehanort with his keyblade and Xehanort hardly had much time before he summoned his own gruesome keyblade, defending himself.

Vanitas blinked in surprise behind his helmet before getting to his feet, watching, stunned, as Ventus kept barraging Xehanort with swift attacks, whirlwinds swirling around them both.

“Don’t let fear take over,” Ventus yelled over the wind to Vanitas. “We will defeat him, together. We’ll be a united force, just as he wanted, but not for his sake or victory. We can do this, I know it!”

Vanitas, still doubtful but filled with new determination, nodded and leapt into the fray.

*

“I regret so many things in my life, and this is one of them,” Axel moaned.

Just as they had gotten over to Sora to help him, they had all been teleported to an area filled with floating broken buildings and zero gravity. The dragon was in the middle of this area, and a king of some kind sat on a throne in its head.

“Nah, it’d be fine!” Sora said, before propelling himself with an aero to shoot towards the throne like the hero he was.

Roxas laughed and followed suit, and Axel soon did the same, using blasts of fire. 

Sora, in the lead, cut through _buildings_ that the dragon was somehow flinging at them. Roxas, second in the lead, cut through the debris left behind leaving a clear path for Axel who only had to focus on catching up.

“Do you think that king-looking guy in the dragon’s head is Xemnas?” Roxas asked.

“Probably, he does love to be extra.”

“He certainly does. Always dramatic.”

Sora, upon reaching the man, started slashing and performing combos on him right away. Roxas swooped in whenever Sora needed time to regain his energy, while Axel hung back and shot fireballs whenever he got an opening, playing the support role.

In no time, the king let out a yell of perhaps defeat before they were all warped into a white space once again. This time, Xemnas stood before them and his coat had more white on it than black. It was like the white and black were fighting each other, never meeting a perfect middle ground.

“Prepare to meet your end,” Xemnas said. “Together you shall face oblivion!” With that, he summoned red blades into his hands and started slashing at them so fast that Sora was knocked back, and Roxas was flung into Axel when he tried to guard.

“He’s stepped up his game, which means we have to do the same,” Axel murmured.

“Gotcha,” Roxas replied. “He can’t keep up with three targets for long.”

The three of them broke apart, and while it was true that Xemnas could only attack one with his blades, he shot lasers at the other two so that there was hardly ever an opening to attack him directly. But Axel, figuring out a loophole, put up a wall of flame around himself and whatever ally got close enough so that the lasers wouldn’t hit them. He kept doing it so much that Xemnas ended up targeting him, so Roxas raced at Xemnas, feeling protective, and struck him with Oblivion and Oathkeeper over and over until he was tossed back.

“Hey, don’t take risks!” Axel called out.

“Maybe that’s what we need to do in order to win,” Sora defended. “If Xemnas isn’t playing fair then neither should we!”

“But not at the loss of our lives!”

Roxas ignored Axel’s concern and got back up before closing in on Xemnas once again.

The process of avoiding lasers, getting thrown about, and getting back up to repeat it all was starting to wear down on everyone. Axel’s walls of flame were only getting weaker and Sora got hit a few times with the lasers while Roxas was sure one of his ribs was cracked because it hurt when he breathed.

It was only when Roxas was thrown back once more, smashing heavily into the ground, was he unable to continue fighting. His body was worn out and he just couldn’t move any more. He might have died right then and there by a barrage of lasers if it wasn’t for Axel rushing over and blasting them away. Smoke drifted off of his hands and he dropped to his knees next to Roxas, spent and out of magic.

Sora soon fell before Xemnas and all hope was lost.

*

Vanitas and Ventus fought Xehanort with all they had. Ventus kept using his command style, Fever Pitch, which basically made him a master of speed and air itself, allowing him to pull off moves he wouldn’t normally have access to. Vanitas, trusting that Ventus wouldn’t be in any accidental danger, kept summoning Unversed and swarming Xehanort with them. These Unversed luckily didn’t attack Ventus at all, which was a nice change. They were hard to control, just as emotions were.

“We’ve got this, keep turning up the heat!” Ventus exclaimed.

Xehanort had not been expecting a fight but he was able to handle them with a lot of counterattacks and dark magic. But being old, he had some limits because while he could keep up with Vanitas’ Unversed, he could hardly defend against Ventus. But he decided to take a trick from Vanitas and summoned a swarm of strong Heartless onto the field. But the thing was, he didn’t stop summoning them and with every one defeated, another ten would spawn to the point that there was hardly any free space to move to.

“Sync up your attacks with mine, back to back! We’ll clear them all out!” yelled Ventus.

Soon, they were a united force, swirling around and slashing out, never letting the Heartless catch them by surprise or leaving them with an opening. Vanitas had to admit, it was nice to be united like this with someone. He could even feel his connection to Ventus strengthening, and tugging, almost as if…

The X-Blade, it was calling to him.

The X-Blade, it was calling to _them._

Kingdom Hearts was talking to them, and what it wanted…

It wanted them to put an end to Xehanort for good.

And so that was what they were going to do, no matter what. But not without an extra power boost, of course.

And with their hearts, united as one, they summoned the X-Blade…

“Yes, the X-Blade! Now, open a path to Kingdom Hearts for your master!”

And with the X-Blade in their hands, they rushed at their Master…

And _struck him down._

*

They were all at Xemnas’ mercy and just as they expected to witness oblivion, Xemnas’ body began to flak apart piece by piece. “What…is this?! No, it can’t be! I am eternal! We are eternal! I will not fade!”

With a war-cry, his body faded away despite his wish to cling to life. There was no more second chances for him.

“Is it…over?” Axel asked, still not able to get back up onto his feet.

“I hope so,” Roxas replied.

*

Xehanort was on his back, and he was fading. The X-Blade vanished from Vanitas’ and Ventus’ hands.

There was a cruel smile on Xehanort’s face and he laughed weakly. “And so even in an alternative world I am struck down…and by my own students no less.”

“You deserve to vanish, for good,” Ventus said coldly. “You screwed up so many worlds for your stupid quest for Kingdom Hearts’ power and didn’t care what happened to anyone who got in your way. Kingdom Hearts is not something for just one person to have, and especially not one with a corrupted heart. You will fade into nothing and this time, we’ll make sure that you’ll never return. You are finished.”

“And what about you, creature from the dark? Do you agree with him? Ventus is your enemy: the light will never accept you for who you are,” Xehanort said, looking to Vanitas.

Vanitas shrugged carelessly. He would have told him to ‘go fuck himself’ if he could, so then he settled for flipping him off because Xehanort couldn’t do a single thing to him now.

“I accept Vanitas just fine,” Ventus said. “That’s more than I can say for you, the real monster here. Hope your mission was worth it, because no one will miss you.”

Vanitas wasted no time to stab into Xehanort with his keyblade, speeding up the death process and satisfied to see Xehanort’s body wither away. The heart it produced was grabbed by Vanitas who crushed it with his fingers.

“Shit, that was a pain in the ass,” he said.

Ventus gasped. “Your voice!”

“Oh, damn, guess it’s back? Cool. If I knew I had to kill that prick to regain it then I would have done it sooner.”

“And the first word you said was a swear…of _course_ it was.”

“Fuck yeah it was! You try getting your voice stolen and having to bottle shit up all the time!”

Ventus groaned but then he laughed. The Vanitas he knew as a kid was back! He couldn’t contain himself, so he pulled Vanitas into a hug and didn’t let him go, even as Vanitas fumed and spluttered and struggled. “Oi! Hands off the merchandise!”

“I’m so glad we won! I’m so glad you’re ok and I’m ok and we did it! We actually did it! We beat him! I wasn’t sure if we would but we did it!”

Vanitas sighed and let Ventus hold him. “Yeah, yeah. I guess I don’t need my suit anymore if that bastard’s truly gone.” His strange muscle-suit remade itself until it looked like Ventus’ normal clothes, except with the colours swapped. He had no need for the muscle-suit or the helmet ever again because finally, _finally,_ he felt safe.

The world around them melted away until they were back again on top of the castle. This time, the top of the castle was rather crowded and Vanitas tore out of Ventus’ arms, embarrassed for being caught looking so soft and vulnerable but nobody was really focusing on them.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi were all huddled together. Sora and Kairi were on either side of Riku and helping to hold him up as he looked exhausted. Well, that made sense for anyone who had been possessed by some creep.

Roxas, Axel, and Saix were standing together, while Xion and Namine were chatting to them.

A couple other Organisation members were standing around looking worn and torn but also weirdly happy, as if this was the first time smiling for real for a long time.

Ventus rushed over to Roxas and scooped him into a hug while Vanitas slowly walking over, missing his muscle-tissue suit already but knowing that no one was going to attack him.

“You’re ok!” Ventus exclaimed.

“So are you!” Roxas said back, hugging him as well.

Vanitas rolled his eyes at the display but a small part of him was glad. He scowled when Axel looked at him with a teasing smile but neither of them said anything. Vanitas wasn’t a damn sap like everyone else, ok? He just… Well he didn’t have to explain himself!

“I’m glad that it’s over,” Marluxia said, a rose dangling from his fingers as he inspected it. “I’ve wanted to switch sides for a long time coming.”

Larxene wrapped an arm around his shoulders and cackled. “I can’t believe that Xemnas was done in by a group of weaklings! How embarrassing! ‘Superior’ indeed!”

“Yes, hearing the news of his demise was probably as underwhelming to watch as it was to hear,” said Zexion, flicking through a book. “Disappointing.”

Everyone tensed up and summoned their weapons when a portal opened up, though it seemed to be made of pure light.

“There’s more?” Vexen asked tiredly.

But neither Xemnas nor another Xehanort stepped out, because out hopped a Sora who was wearing a strange outfit that their Sora had never worn before. He froze up when he saw the crowd and looked around. “Oh, this is weird,” he said.

Their Sora replied back, “How do you think _I_ feel?”

“I’m not going to ask what’s happening here, even if I have more than a few questions, but have you seen a Xehanort around? He hopped realities after he was defeated and he needs to be stopped or he’ll mess up every single reality.”

Ventus pointing to himself and then at Vanitas. “We kinda just defeated one and broke his heart into pieces. If he’s really from your reality then he’s definitely not coming back.”

There was a moment of awkward silence, because Ventus had practically just admitted to helping kill a man without any remorse on his face, but then the other Sora recovered. “Well…that’s one way of dealing with him I suppose. I’m a bit disappointed that I couldn’t bring him back to my reality and made sure he paid for his crimes but sure, I guess if he’s gone then there’s nothing more to do here.” He cast one last questioning look at everyone before returning to his portal and then vanishing back into whatever reality he belonged in.

“…What the hell was that?!” Larxene exclaimed but nobody knew.

“It’s over, so who gives a shit?” Vanitas replied.

“I’ve been lost from the start,” said Riku. “Why is there an edgy-version of Sora over there swearing?”

“I’M NOT A VERSION OF SORA!” Vanitas yelled back, offended. But he didn’t defend his edginess.

“We all need a long nap,” Axel said. “That’s for sure.”

“Let’s go to Traverse Town,” Kairi suggested. “ _All_ of us.”

Nobody argued.

*

When they got to Traverse Town, Hayner and Seifer were waiting. As soon as Hayner spotted Roxas, he ran over and made sure he was ok. It seemed like he wanted to hug him but he didn’t and instead they exchanged a fist-bump which was far more manly (according to Hayner anyway).

Seifer didn’t seem to like the newcomers but shut up when both Sora and Kairi shot him a warning look to keep his mouth shut.

Axel retold some of the story, making his own role sound far more amazing and spectacular than it actually was, and then Vanitas gloomily talked about Xehanort’s demise and didn’t leave anything out. Then Riku talked about his weird experience getting possessed and went to bed, Kairi following after him.

Sora stayed behind and sat next to Roxas. They were all sitting at an outside bar and it was rather crowded but it was nice. Nobody was trying to actively kill each other.

“That sure was an adventure!” Sora said. “And everything turned out ok in the end, which means the power of friendship is stronger than any kind of darkness!”

“You’re right, I suppose,” Roxas admitted. “But it wasn’t just friendship.”

“Mostly it was.”

“I mean, technically it _wasn’t_ because we can wield keyblades and magic…”

“Nope!”

“Argh, I’ll pretend that I agree with you even if I kinda don’t. In some ways. It _did_ help me with regaining my heart I guess.”

Sora laughed and they sat together in comfortable silence, just taking everything in. Everyone was mostly ok and Xehanort was defeated. Still, seeing a Sora from a different reality had been weird. What was his reality like? Did a Roxas exist there? Did Ventus? Were they still brothers even there? Maybe it was better not to know. There was probably endless realities out there but Roxas was glad to be in this one and to have friends and a family to belong to.

Looking at his friends, and even old co-workers, he felt like he belonged here. He had a heart, they all did, and he wasn’t going to give it up for anything.

And looking at Axel, he had someone to love, and someone to love him back as well. They hadn’t talked about it, and probably weren’t yet ready for that kind of relationship after their ordeal with being tricked into thinking they couldn’t feel anything, but perhaps one day they’d be ready. It was ok if it wasn’t now or tomorrow or even in a year.

“I’m glad that I met you,” said Sora.

“Me too.”

Roxas looked to his brother who was holding hands with Vanitas, whose face was bright red. Vanitas glared when he caught Roxas staring but didn’t let go.

“Maybe we should go on another adventure sometime, one that doesn’t involve darkness or any risks,” Roxas suggested. “All of us this time, not leaving Hayner and Seifer behind.”

“That sounds nice. I think we all need a break. Maybe we should go back to Destiny Islands?”

“Maybe. We could tour all the worlds we can if we wanted to.”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Sora grinned and Roxas did too, until his cheeks hurt. He didn’t have to run away ever again and could just relax without worrying about being kidnapped or killed. Everyone he cared about were safe and finally, _finally_ he was happy without any strings attached or danger lurking around every corner.

Finally he could smile, knowing that everything was going to be ok.

And maybe, just maybe, every Roxas in every other reality and timeline were going to be ok too. They all deserved to be happy.

He had found the place he belonged:

He had found his home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …That’s it! We’re done! In my Word document this fic is 80+ pages in total! And I think that took two months? Something like that! Apologies if you expected more but if I tried to do that then this fic would never end! It was meant to be different but well, things change! 
> 
> And lol yeah, as you can see romance wasn’t a focus at all really. It was hard to just shove it in cause this fic was about Roxas mostly and his bonds with others. It was never about love and still kinda isn’t. Well, platonic love I guess with a small seasoning of romance. 
> 
> There are inconsistencies and plot-holes but honestly, I’m kinda fine with how it turned out? A 39000+ fic ain’t easy to write and edit and post with such a tight time-limit. But hey! It’s done before KH3 so my goal is complete!
> 
> I do indeed have plans for more fics that won’t go off the rails so much! And again, my focus in my writing is always characters and friendship first! I find fast-paced romance to be dull. I’d rather write and read fics that try and do something interesting with characterization but that’s just me! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Perhaps it isn’t the conclusion that y’all wanted but something is better than nothing!
> 
> EXTRA CONTENT UNLOCKED:  
> Sora takes Roxas, Ventus, Axel, and Vanitas to Simba’s world.   
> Vanitas gets teased about how cute he looks as a lion while Axel continuously has no clue how to control his hyena body.   
> (lol nooo I’m not writing another chapter just for this idea, but imagine it)
> 
> BRING ON KH3 ALREADY! I'M READY TO CRY AND KICK ASS! WOOOOOOOOOO!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


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